The Stained Glass Effect
by PsychoDirector
Summary: KHI, Alt. ending. Ansem and the Organization have always been rivals in their quest for power. However, they haven't had need to interfere with each other... until the Organization suddenly kidnaps Sora, Kairi's heart with him. And Ansem wants it back.
1. Chapter 1

**Psycho Director: **New story! New plot! More violence! I'm so happy, happy! You all enjoy this random drablet about stuff. AND YES I AM AWARE THIS IS ANOTHER KH FANFIC. I need to get a life. :(

**Rating PG--PG-13: Medium violence, mild language, mild to medium sexual references **

**Takes place during KHI, shortly after the first cutscene in Hollow Bastion.**

**Summary: **Just this: combining the plots for both games has never seemed so fun.

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_Sorry, your part's over now._

_You don't have what it takes to save Kairi._

_You were just the delivery boy._

_Sora, sorry._

**T**hose words cut through Sora again and again, like a knife through butter. He was alone and abandoned, with only bitter recollections to keep him company, for whatever solace they offered. His so-called _friends _had long since left him there, on that cold and barren waterfall, for the comforting promise of a warm citadel and the welcoming light of the Keyblade. Now the only sounds were the dripping of steadily melting ice, the wind blustering against the landscape, and two people breathing—Sora and the strange beast Riku had defeated, the latter of which had yet to awaken. It was very lonely, cold, and miserable, and the seconds dragged on.

_Let the Keyblade choose—its _true _master._

_Goofy, let's go._

_We have to remember our mission._

Sora wasn't sure how long he continued to sit there before the numb of the frost began to nip painfully at his skin, and he shivered uncontrollably. The chilly breeze wore goose bumps across his exposed arms and ankles, so that he knew: if he did not find someplace warmer soon, he could very well freeze to death. While the prospect of that was terrifying and made his breath catch, his body refused to leave the meager sanctuary that was his spot on the waterfall. Whether it was from uncertainty or fear of the awakening the creature besides him, he couldn't be sure. Maybe it was both. Or maybe his pants were simply stuck to the ice. He sighed, but broke it off halfway for a renewed shiver. With his arms wrapped tightly about his chest and his body shaking, he awaited the next barrage of painful memories, this time from further back.

_This world has been connected._

_Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed._

_There is so very much to learn._

_You know, Riku's changed._

_Sora, don't ever change._

_The door has opened._

_Now we can go see other worlds!_

_I'm not afraid of the darkness!_

"I-I'm n-n-not afraid… N-not of you or your st-stupid d-darkness, Riku." It was no use. Sora was still scared to face his friends, or to move, even. He blew on his hands tentatively (wishing that he had had the sense to wear gloves that covered his fingers at least a little), then rubbed them against his arms. How had he not noticed how freezing it was here before? A light brushing of snow had settled on his shoulders, and he brushed it off impatiently. Was this how it all ended? Dying of cold because he wasn't brave enough to move?

_Get up… _Sora's mind urged him. _You've faced much worse than this. Get up, or you'll die. Worse, Kairi may die, and Riku's heart may be taken by the Heartless. Don't give up now. _Sora pressed his knees tighter against his chest, trying to drown out his mind—because he knew it was right. He couldn't afford to stay there, so why was he? He didn't know himself. Riku was getting away, Kairi was still asleep—and he wouldn't even get up. Sometimes he disgusted himself.

Unexpectedly, just as Sora was about to try and stand, the low temperature began to slowly but steadily rise, the newfound warmth coating Sora like a blanket. It was a fight for Sora to even keep his eyes open, the heat making him incredibly drowsy. His death grip on his chest loosened, and a small smile crossed his face. He wondered: was this what it was like to die? He never thought it'd be so welcoming.

"Are you planning to sit there all night?" Sora jumped at the voice, startled, and dared to look up. A man much older and considerably thinner than him was looking at him with what might have been confused as humor—or contempt. He had spiked crimson hair, which stuck out in all directions as if it was electrically shocked. His green eyes seemed to be constantly laughing at an inside joke, poised just above two teardrop shaped tattoos. He also had donned on a long and billowing black cloak with silver spangles, black boots, and matching black gloves. Unlike the ex-Keyblade Master, he had dressed sensibly for the weather. "'Cause you're in our way."

Sora looked beyond the man, and was surprised to see three other figures. One was a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, two strands of which hovered a few inches off her scalp and into the air like antennae. Another was a woman (man?) with slightly longer, layered pink-brown hair. The third was a short, indigo-haired man whose bangs covered one eye. Sora noticed with some relief that they weren't focused on him, but on the Beast. But still, it was so quiet in here. How had he not noticed them arrive? And, more importantly….

"W-who are you?" Sora asked the red-haired man, cocking his head to one side instinctively. Instead of answering, the man simply grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him up, acting as if he did it every day (which he may have, Sora had no idea). After he had shooed Sora off a few feet, he spoke.

"You don't want to get within a ten-foot range of Larxene right now, kid. She's PMSing. _Kssh_!" The man ran his finger along his throat, gritting his teeth and making his eyes bulge dramatically, then squeezed them shut and stuck out his tongue. Sora giggled in spite of himself, then grew serious.

"You didn't answer my question." The man sighed and crossed his arms.

"Alright, I get what you're asking." He pointed at the side of his head, as if Sora was having trouble with cognitive thinking. "The name's Axel. Commit it to memory." Sora nodded and smiled, feeling a little better. The warmth from earlier seemed to follow Axel around, and with it brought hope.

"I'm Sora." He held out his hand, fully expecting a shake in return. Instead, Axel simply turned around and started yelling orders at the group. Sora put his hand down slowly, feeling slightly offended. And cold.

"Alright, people, enough with the sightseeing, here!" Axel clapped his hands loudly, alerting the other black-coated people. Sora mentally nicknamed them, 'Coats'. Not very original, but it fit. "Creepy werewolf guys can wait."

"Let's wake it up, already," the blonde—Larxene?—suggested. "Maybe it's a Heartless, and we can get it to sick other people." The indigo-haired Coat shook his head and spoke.

"It's not a Heartless, Larxene, or a Nobody. It's a creature of the light, just transformed into another body. It was once a human man." Sora blinked. That big, furry thing—human? It didn't seem possible, but then again… everything else had been so crazy, it didn't seem like too big of a deal anymore. Larxene laughed.

"That thing's _human_? You're kidding." She shrugged. "Oh well. Just makes it easier to convert." She held her hands in front of her, and they started to glow purple and black. Sora gasped as he realized what she was about to do: turn the Beast into a Heartless! Instinctively, Sora was up and running.

"No!" He cried loudly, then dashed and planted himself firmly in front of it. He thrust his arms out to either side, like a shield protecting the Beast from the Coats. His eyes were narrowed, and he waited impatiently to see how the Coats would respond to his sudden intrusion.

"What's this? You think you can stop us? Don't make me laugh," the pink haired man (Sora knew now he was male; for no woman could have a voice that low) scoffed. Sora gritted his teeth, still holding out his arms.

"I won't let you hurt him! Not as long as I'm here!" The pink-haired man and Larxene seemed irritated and annoyed, Axel seemed mildly impressed (though he hid it well), and the purple-haired guy seemed thoughtful (didn't he always?).

"Well, then," the pink-haired man sneered maliciously. He held out his hand, and a single cherry petal fell onto his palm. Sora balked as the petal glowed a pale pink, then began to morph. In a second, the cherry petal had been replaced by a long, twisted, and menacing pink scythe, which he held up coolly. "I believe we'd better rid ourselves of you." Sora lowered himself into a defensive position, trying his hardest to not let his fear show.

"Oh, is this another toy for us to play with?" Larxene summoned her own weapons: a set of six small yellow-and-blue knives, which let out small sparks. She held them between her knuckles, grinning sadistically. "Say your prayers, twerp."

"Can we just get on with this?" Sora remarked sarcastically. "You're startin' to bore me." This wasn't the case, but still, Sora hated monologues. The pink Coat growled something unintelligible, then lunged out with his scythe. He swung it in a sharp downward arc, charging towards Sora. The latter easily dodged out of the way and to the left, using the opportunity to slam his fists into the small of the Coat's back. The Coat cried out, then swung sideways at Sora. He jumped back, receiving only a tiny nick over his chest. Larxene was about to join in the fray, excited, when…

"_Stop_!" Both Sora and the Coat froze at the new voice, glancing behind them. The indigo-haired Coat stepped in front of Axel and Larxene, scowling. "Marluxia, you mustn't harm him." Sora glanced from him to the Coat (Marluxia), back and forth, before retorting hotly.

"Why not? Scared I'll beat the crap outta' you for it?" Larxene rolled her eyes grandiosely.

"Don't flatter yourself." Sora glared daggers at her, but kept his mouth shut. Marluxia was the next to speak.

"Why should I spare the child, Zexion? Becoming a witness of my element might lecture him on the rather… _unpleasant_ consequences of interfering with our operations." Sora spat on the ground as a response, but it went ignored. Zexion seemed to have been awaiting this answer.

"Because," he revealed dramatically, "we are not allowed to impair… _the objective_." Marluxia recoiled suddenly at the announcement, as did Larxene. Axel smirked cagily, as if he had known it all along. Sora, on the other hand, merely cocked his head to the side, completely lost.

"I-impossible! He's far too young, and inexperienced! He cannot be unanimous with it! It would not allow such an unproven Master!"

"Uh, what're you talkin' about?" Sora asked uncertainly.

"My senses do not lie, Marluxia. The Keyblade has a very strong and distinctive scent," he turned to Sora, almost accusingly, "and you _reek _of it." Sora's eyes widened as he realized, they were after the Keyblade after all! He felt a brief moment of panic, before he remembered: it wasn't his problem anymore. Let Riku handle these guys. He was the one who had the Keyblade now, after all.

Still, Sora felt a twinge of worry, not for himself, but for his old friend. Could Riku take on this many people at once? Probably not. If Sora could beat him half the time at sparring (alright, _slightly _less than half), how could he hope to fair well against four magical-weapon wielding, evil Coats? The thought left Sora with a queasy feeling in his gut.

"Well, it matters not. It only serves to aid our cause. Now, come to me, boy." Sora remained where he was.

"Why should I?" He challenged, arms crossed. Marluxia seemed taken aback. Good.

"Because I commanded you to do so! Nasty little brats like you should learn to respect their elders! Now, _come here_!" Sora wasn't sure if this guy was all there at the moment. His next response dripped with sarcasm.

"Oh, gee willikers! You _told me so_? That's my one weakness! I _can't_ disobey a direct order!" He started to take a giant step forward, then drew his foot back. "No, wait. I _can_." A vein throbbed in Marluxia's forehead as his eyes narrowed practically to slits. Sora laughed, and Larxene joined in. This guy was too fun to mock!

"I'm beginning to like this twerp," Larxene added.

"That's _enough_! You have _forced _me to—" Suddenly Axel coughed, and Marluxia reared on him.

"What is it, Number VII!?" Axel looked down at the ground, as if thoughtful.

"He has a point, Marluxia. I think you've gotten a little too used to everyone obeying you without question around the Castle." Sora was more confused than ever. What castle? And why would those other three listen to that psycho petal-head all the time, anyway? Axel or Larxene seemed more like the leader types. Even Zexion would have been a better choice. "Let me handle this." Axel snapped his fingers, and a very bizarre thing happened.

Instantly, seven white… _things_… morphed into existence around Sora. They were humanoid, but with extra-long arms and legs. Their heads were pyramid-shaped with odd zippers over where their mouths would be, and a strange silver symbol on each of their foreheads. Their stretched out fingers were bound with two gray bands on each hand, and they had blue lines going up their sides. They seemed to dance around the ex-Keyblade Master, smoothly and hypnotically, hissing loudly.

"W-what?" Sora stuttered, holding up his wooden sword like a shield between him and them. Whatever these things were, they were clearly not friendly.

"Alright!" Axel directed, raucously and enthusiastically. "You have ten seconds to run like hell, Sora! Let's see who can get him first, Dusks—_alive_!" Sora didn't need to be told twice. Using one of the Dusks as a pole, he leapt over the group and started sprinting across the ice field. While brute strength wasn't his specialty, he could dodge well, and run pretty fast. He thought that if he could just make it to the Gummi Ship, then he'd have a very good chance of escaping. While he'd have to go back, of course—there were still worlds to be saved, after all—hopefully the fuss would have died down by then. And he could bring backup. That was, provided he could make it back to the ship at all.

Sora dared to look back after he had mentally counted to ten. That was his mistake. He gaped, openmouthed, at the Dusks. Instead of dashing after him like people, or sliding through the ground like Heartless, they seemed to be slipping and flowing in-between the air itself. Their bodies moved like fish in the ocean back home, arms pressed against their sides and the rest of them just… _swimming_. That way, they quickly covered the distance between him and the Coats, much to his alarm.

Two of them swiftly dived down in syncopation, then delivered twin kicks to Sora's chest, knocking him back hard and winding him. Panic driving him, he hastily scrambled back to his feet. Before he could get in much air, however, the two had swiftly wrapped their arms around his throat and squeezed harshly. Sora coughed and gagged, clawing at their hands as his vision grew fuzzier and his need for air quickly became vital. He fell to his knees, reaching out in desperation for his sword. His hand wrapped around the small handle, the wood feeling hard yet worn with age.

"N-no… get away…." He choked out through gritted teeth, struggling to swing the sword at them. Spots swam before his eyes, obstructing his vision. Yet, even through the cloudy haze slowly taking over his thoughts, one word managed to pull free. With the last of his strength, he pressed the wooden medium against the heads of both of the Dusks, and whispered the word.

"_Firaga_."

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_LOLZCLIFFHANGER. To be continued!_ :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Psycho Director: **Hey. Sup, homies? Look, listen. I'm very NOT HAPPY with the lack of comments I've been getting on my stories. At all. Not even a little bit. I have so little happy that if you were to put an accurate measure of my happiness into a room, it would create a negative vortex that would suck up the entire _universe _and still not be happy. That's how not happy I am.

Seriously, what is it that keeps you away ever so much? Do they suck? Are all of you Sora-fans and dislike me for kicking ze bishie-puppy? Is it because I don't avidly fav or comment on anything myself? WHAAAAT!? Or maybe it's just that I haven't made a name out for myself yet.

But, whatever! I don't care! Just, seriously. Like it; read it; comment it. I'm not asking for advanced critique, here. Just 'cool' would do. Copy, paste. It's that easy.

And for those of you who do comment, awesome! You're all amazing. Go help yourselves to a cookie buffet convieniantly located just behind you. Only comments can have the cookies. Non-commenters are _not special enough_ for cookies. :D

Kudos to **Valor999, Iaveina, **and especially **Taora. **You are all very special people. If I could remember how to reply to comments, I'd spam you guys with love. DON'T ALL OF YOU OTHER READERS WANT TO BE SPAMMED WITH LOVE!?!?

In any case, enjoy the chapter. This is where the action-y chase scene occurs. You all enjoy that. 8D MOAR VIOLENCE! MOAR ORANIZATION! MOAR AXEL! MOAR GUMMI SHIP! MOAR MOARS! Enjoooooy...

**Rated PG--PG-13: Strong violence, minimal to medium language, minimal sexual referances.**

**WARNING: Contains violence and stuff.**

**KHNOT MINE.**

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S**ora must have been doing something right, for the spell worked, and he was soon panting for air like a fish out of water. He fell onto his rear, color rapidly returning to his face. Two other Dusks grabbed onto his arms roughly, but he was too weak to fight them off. He could only watch as they started dragging him back. 

"Unh… let go…" he mumbled in-between gasps for breath. The Dusks only hissed louder, as if they were laughing at him. The one holding his right arm began squeezing it painfully, until Sora's fist opened and the wooden sword fell to the ground with a clatter.

Sora's awareness returned swiftly, and he struggled against the Dusks. He planted his feet firmly against the ground, then yanked and tugged his arms. However, the ice was too slick for a firm grip, and the Dusks were stronger than they appeared. He gathered up his voice for a scream.

"I said, let _go_! Stop it!" He wrenched valiantly against them, then heard the sound of a single pair of footsteps coming towards him. He looked up to see Axel striding towards him casually, and glared at him.

"Who's side are you _on_!?" Sora yelled, resuming his battle against the Dusks holding him. Axel smirked, further infuriating Sora.

"My own, of course. You and me just happened to cross at the wrong time, that's all. You have what we need, we want it, you get the short end of the stick. That's life." Sora ground his teeth together, and muttered a string of unrepeatable words, focusing on the ground. This was completely unfair. Keyblade? He didn't even have the damn thing anymore! "You and I have a lot in common, Sora. Too bad. If it had been any other time, we might have been best friends." Sora was furious.

"_Best friends_? Please tell me you're bein' sarcastic. I don't want to have anything to do with you! You _forced_ me into this!" He gave one more hard, forceful yank against the Dusks. Unexpectedly, the Dusk on his right arm yanked backwards at the same moment in time.

There was a terrible, sickening _krrsh _sound. Sora froze, stunned. Time seemed to temporarily halt. Axel mimicked Sora's astonished look and stood stock-still, and even the wind didn't seem to blow. All was still.

Then the Dusk hissed, and sensation returned. Sora shrieked piercingly as his arm exploded in agony. He fell to his knees, little tears springing to his eyes. His right arm wouldn't move, and what bits that weren't in pain were swiftly numbing.

"Wh-what the hell!?" Axel proclaimed. He ran over and called off the Dusks, much to Sora's relief. He then grabbed at Sora's shoulder just beside his neck with one hand, and his upper arm with the other. Sora's cries were renewed as the spots Axel touched burned unbearably.

"_Let go! Don't touch me_!" he screeched. Axel looked over Sora's shoulder critically, then sighed.

"It's dislocated. I'll have to push it back in." Sora's face paled.

"N-no! Please—" He cut off for another shriek as Axel quickly shoved his shoulder back into its socket with another _krrsh _noise. Sora yelled incessantly as his arm exploded in newfound, excruciating pain—much, much worse than before. Panicked, he wrenched away from Axel, then stumbled back a few steps before falling onto his back. Then, finally, his cries died off, and he sat there, cradling his shoulder protectively and struggling to suppress his panic. After a few seconds, he felt Axel put a hand on his good shoulder, and dared to glance up. In truth, a large part of him was hoping for some sort of comfort after his shoulder had been dislocated, though he tried his hardest to hold the feeling back.

"Come on, let's head back. It's best not to keep Marly waiting when he's in one of his 'moods'." Sora whimpered.

"I… I can't… it hurts…" He gasped and seized his shoulder tighter as a wave of pain washed over him. Axel's patience was wearing thin. In one swift movement, he pulled Sora to his feet, swept behind him, and started pushing him back towards where they had started. Sora tried to resist, but every time he moved sent fresh ripples of fiery pain across the entire right half of his body, so that he trembled as he walked.

"Cold?" Axel asked, noticing the brunet's pained shivers. His tone was detached and uncaring. Sora was cold—freezing, actually—but he would never admit it to Axel.

"No, I'm perfectly fine, you _asshole_," he replied with as much hostility and sarcasm as he could muster, then shuddered again. He wanted nothing more at that moment to find a nice, warm spot far away to curl up and cry at, then take a long nap. The beaches at Destiny Islands were warm and soft… Axel looked ahead.

"Then stop shivering already, or I'll jerk out the other one. It's annoying." Sora felt a wave of fear run down his spine, knowing the redhead would keep his word, but kept his mouth shut and tried his best to stop shaking. Axel smirked, then continued shoving him along.

After a short while, the shapes of the others started coming into view from beyond a hill. Weird. Sora hadn't even remembered climbing the hill on his escape attempt. He must have been more panicked than he thought. Axel grinned and waved at his comrades.

"Hey, guys! Told you I could get the job done, Marmar! We had a little incident, but it's all good now, right Sora?" His tone of voice told Sora that it would be a very, very bad idea to disagree. Sora bit back an insult with difficulty. No one answered them, and Axel was confused. "Guys? Hey, guys! Jealous or something?" Still no answer.

"Maybe they decided to leave you here on this stupid rock after all," Sora muttered insultingly, his voice rough with pain.

"I don't think so. They've already tried that." Sora laughed bitterly.

"Some friends."

"With friends like you guys, who needs enemies?"

"You, apparently. No one's succeeded in assassinating you yet."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll break the record."

"I'm looking forward to it." Suddenly the two froze, upon seeing what lay beyond the hill. Zexion, Larxene and Marluxia were all scattered on the ground, strewn across erratically like toys. None of them were conscious, though Zexion moaned a bit in pain. They were all covered in bruises and still bleeding cuts, but that wasn't what attracted the duo's attention.

No, what caught their eyes and made them stare in shock was the giant, hulking, furious beast-like creature that they had all written-off as a goner. It was standing behind the other fainted Coats, casting them in its long shadow as it glared back at the remaining two. With the sun at its back, its face was cloaked in darkness, except for its gleaming, long, sharp claws and teeth, which shone in the light. It was truly frightening.

"Shit…" Axel breathed. "I gotta' get out of here." Before Sora could react, he grabbed the younger boy and flung him over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Sora screeched in a voice usually reserved for calling dogs as his shoulder was jarred agonizingly, but Axel ignored it. Instead, he held a hand out in front of him, and a swirling oval of purplish-black darkness swirled to life. He began to run for it, and Sora began yelling urgently for help.

"_No_, let go of me! Stop, _stop_! Somebody, please, help! I'm being kidnapped! _Help me_!" He brought his fist down forcefully on Axel's lower back, but it didn't even slow down the frantic redhead. Undaunted, he tried kicking and punching and just general making an ass of himself, screaming for help all the while. None of it seemed to be doing any lasting effect, and Sora was getting frightened. Where was he being taken to? What would they do to him once they found out he didn't have what they were searching for? They wouldn't need him alive after that, and Sora shuddered at the thought. He couldn't let them win! No way!

Suddenly Axel froze. Sora blinked in confusion, then craned his neck to see what was the hold-up. He gasped. It was the beast from before, the one that had beaten down the Coats and that Zexion said was a human! Sora felt a glimmer of hope. Was this the help he had asked for? Could it _possibly_ feel sympathy for the fourteen-year-old boy who had a dislocated shoulder, lost his home, friends, family and only weapon to the darkness, and was being abducted by a mysterious group of people all at the same time? Or… or would it just think of him as an easy kill, and tear out his throat right there and then? He had no clue.

The beast struck, and a single scream echoed into the empty air. There was a loud thud, followed by a light splattering sound. The beast let out a roar of triumph over its prey, then quieted.

Far beyond, inside the castle, Donald, Goofy and Riku hadn't even heard a thing.

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_To. Be. Continued. DUN DUN DUUUUUUN..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Psycho Director: **I don't feel like writing anything here now. : Comments are still loved, you know.

Special thanks to mah three commenters thus far:D -Passes out invitations to the Cookie Buffet- But little did the commenters know, but the cookies were really... DANISHES. _DUN FUN SUN!! _

**Rated PG--PG-13: Strong violence, medium language, minimal to no sexual references. Except this: Booooooooobies. -drool- What? I'm not gay...**

**If Kingdom Hearts were mine, Sora would be evil/dead, there'd be a bigger age group (has anyone besides me noticed the odd lack of really old or really young characters?), Riku would stop whining so much but would still be smexy, Kairi would be ten-fold more useful, and Organization XIII would still be with us today. That, or I'd buy 51 of the stocks and give the rest away to Mr. Nomura. I can't handle that much irresponcibility.**

**We now bring you our feature presentation.**

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A**xel lay on the ground, knocked unconscious. He had a gash on his forehead where the Beast had cut him with his claws, which was bleeding pretty bad. Then again, all head wounds do. Sora grinned at the Beast gratefully, though it looked more like a half-smile, half-grimace. His shoulder still hurt. 

"T-thanks, mister," he said, remembering his manners. The Beast looked over Axel's body with a critical eye, ignoring Sora. After a second or two, he (it?) spoke.

"Don't celebrate just yet; he's only dazed. You'd better run." He reached into the pocket of his lavender, shredded pants and pulled out a tiny green vial. He then tossed it to Sora, who took it gratefully. It was a Potion. Sora uncorked it, then threw it into the air. There was a green, warm glow, and the pain in Sora's shoulder lessened drastically. All of this happened in a few seconds.

"Alright. Thanks a lot!" Sora nodded his head gratefully at the Beast, then started sprinting off. He scrambled over the multitude of floating rocks on the ice field, blatantly ignoring a white Trinity. There wasn't much point in it being there if he wasn't part of the Trinity anymore.

_If I can just get to the Gummi Ship, then I can fly off this world and come back after those goons have left, _Sora thought. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was better than nothing. Maybe he would be a bit brighter this time around, and ask a couple of friends to come with, sort of like bodyguards, at least until he got the Keyblade back. But first, he had to get to the ship.

A couple of times Sora slipped and had to grab onto the ledges of the platforms. Each time, his shoulder roared furiously against this act, but Sora held on with effort. What would he rather do, fall into the snake's nest of Coats? At the rate he was going, he wouldn't need to. The Beast's words kept echoing in his head: _They're only dazed. You'd better run. They're only dazed. You'd better run. They're only dazed. Only dazed. Only dazed… _Sora sped up, the terror of being caught gifting him with stamina.

The trip would have normally only taken one or two minutes, but due to his injured arm, the slippery ice, and his own panicked clumsiness, it took Sora at least nine or ten minutes to reach the ship. But _finally_, he caught a glimpse of the bright red hull over a large platform, and felt a surge of relief. He was almost home!

He reached the side of the door and paused, gasping for air. A number pad was on the opposite side, used to open it incase the keys didn't work. Donald had complained a lot about it ("Why have a number pad when you have a key that can open any lock, anyway? It's not exactly fun to keep there, either! There's repair bills, it constantly needs new paint coats, the keys keep breaking..."), threatening to take it out, but Sora was infinitely relieved that he never did. He pounded in the code (7938), then waited impatiently for the door to open.

"Come on, come _on_," Sora growled at it. Finally, there was a beep of approval, and the door unlocked with a loud _whoosh _sound. Sora grinned happily, then pulled the door jerkily to the right. It slid all the way open, and he leapt in, slamming it shut behind him. He took a moment to let the familiar memories wash over him, then ran to the main console. All he had to do was start it up, then lift off and fly away. Easy. Woah, wait a second…

"Dammit!" Sora yelled in frustration, pounding the console with his fist. He winced as it sent a wave of pain up his one good arm, but otherwise ignored it. He had forgotten: Donald had the key to the ignition, being the true pilot of the Gummi Ship. He didn't want to give away the only copy of it to the guy who had crashed them into the Deep Jungle and had a giant super-key, anyway. Without any sort of key, he was stuck here. With _them_. Sora's alarm peaked when he heard a loud roar from the Beast down below. He sounded in pain.

"Hang on, _please_!" Sora looked around the ship, desperate for any way to get off of this world. Just then, he spotted it: a small, black radio. Cid had installed it on their last trip to his shop, in case the main power went out. ("_The power can go out_!?" Donald had quacked loudly.) It was used to communicate with other worlds, to be only used in emergencies. It was sort of like calling a pay phone, though: you never knew just who would pick up the other line. Sora would just have to take that risk.

He scrambled over to the radio, then jabbed at the power button. A surge of static poured from the twin speakers, startling the ex-Keyblade Master. He looked to the side of the radio. There, in Cid's untidy scrawl, was a Post-It note list of the frequencies of the worlds they had visited and their names. Sora looked up Traverse Town's (101.3), then began twisting the dial to the correct range. If he was lucky, the radio should pick up the signal of the identical radio in Cid's store. However, there was still the chance that a stronger signal could intercept it, and a random person would hear his cry for help. Sora crossed his fingers of his right hand as his left adjusted the dial. After what seemed like hours of static, a groggy voice came on.

"Huh? Whozzer?" the familiar Southern accent drawled sleepily. Sora sighed in relief.

"C-Cid? It's me, Sora," he whispered. He paused fearfully as he thought he heard footsteps approaching, but it was just the wind blowing against both the hull of the ship and his already hopelessly frayed nerves.

"Kid? What're you doin', callin' at two in the mornin'? Can't it wait 'til a more reasonable hour?" The times of day were different from world to world, as it was only somehwre around seven in Hollow Bastion.

"_No_!" Sora yelled in alarm. He paused again, taking in a deep breath. "I mean, definitely no. This is a massive emergency!"

"Alright, just calm down a second. Now, what is it?" Sora took another deep breath, then started spilling out the events of the past hour or so in a rush.

"Well we got to Hollow Bastion alright, but then we saw Riku fighting a big beast-thing. We caught up with him, but then he stole the Keyblade from me! I can't summon it, and without it I can't fight anymore! Donald and Goofy followed Riku into this big castle place, and I was still outside. Then, these really freaky black coated guys—four of them—showed up and one of them—a blonde lady named Larxene—tried to turn the Beast into a Heartless! I tried to stop them—really, I did—but then another one of them—a pink-haired guy named Marluxia—attacked me with a scythe! Then a red-haired one named Axel summoned all of these weird white things after me—" Sora gasped as he heard footsteps coming closer to the ship. This time, however, it wasn't the wind. He pressed on, even faster.

"--And one of them dislocated my shoulder and then the Beast woke up and attacked the Coat-guys, but it... err... _he_ helped me so it's on our side, I think. It told me to run, so I went back to the ship, but I can't start it up 'cause I don't have any keys and then the Coats attacked the Beast and I think they might have even killed it! I'm hiding in the ship right now and they're coming towards it and I don't know what to do! Please, _please_, I need some help! They only want me for the Keyblade, but when they find out I don't have it anymore, then I… I think they'd _kill_ me!!" Sora at last stopped, gasping for air.

All of a sudden, as if on cue, there was a loud, reverberating bashing sound. Sora froze, breathing heavily. Someone was pounding against the door. He grabbed the radio instinctively and held it to his chest, face outward. Cid's voice fuzzed from the speakers.

"Sora? What's goin' on? Sora!" Sora pressed his hands against the speakers to quiet them.

"Come on out, kid! We won't hurt you—much—as long as you co-operate!" Larxene called from the other side of the door. Sora swallowed his panic with difficulty, then pressed a button on the main console. It was the air lock. With a loud _whoosh_, the door shut the rest of the way, locking them out firmly. Yet still, he knew it wouldn't hold them for long. It only seemed to infuriate the group.

"Why you selfish fiend! Open this door right now if you wish to stay in one piece!" This time it was Marluxia screaming. Sora ignored the demand, instead looking around for a weapon.

"Cid," Sora spoke to the radio while looking, "please, I need some backup. I'm not sure how long I can keep these guys away. I really, really don't want to die." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he heard a huge, metallic clang from behind him, and dared to look back. The door's vacuum seal had been violently torn apart, making it fall to the ground by its own weight. The Coats stood in the doorway, all wielding various weapons and looking smug. Larxene was carrying her knives, which shot of sparks occasionally, while Marluxia had his giant salmon-colored scythe, which was coated in a cloud of cherry petals. Axel was wielding two red and silver large rings with blades around the edges, which were on fire. Finally, Zexion had… a book.

"Shame, shame," Axel taunted. "You didn't listen to us. Now we'll have to hurt you some more." Sora drew back from the weapons impulsively, but still attempted to look tough; not an easy task, seeing as they scared him stiff. "Zexion, would you do the honors?"

"Gladly." Suddenly, much to Sora's shock, the ship's walls seemed to melt and swirl. The entire world swayed back and forth like a swing, and Sora felt incredibly lightheaded. His stomach throbbed and ached as he stared at the hypnotic illusion all around him. The only thing that was clear was Zexion, the other Coats seeming to have just disappeared. Sora narrowed his eyes at Zexion. He had to be causing this.

Sora tried to run towards the book-wielder, but as soon as he took a step, the world slipped out from under him. His foot dug into the steel floor as if it was clay, kicking dust-like flooring into the air where it dispersed. The swirling atmosphere made him feel disorientated and confused. He fell to the floor hard and shut his eyes, struggling to get the dizzying feeling to go away.

"S-stop it…" he moaned, his voice also warped. It grew louder and softer, echoing around the ship. Sora grasped his head, groaning and feeling like throwing up. He struggled to stand, but every time he moved made his stomach churn. He managed to get onto his knees, but barely, and stopped to cough and gag.

"That's enough, Zexion. I don't want to have to be stuck with the job of cleaning up puke all day." Sora blinked, and the illusion vanished. He fell onto his hands and knees, gasping and sweating. Larxene laughed, then slammed her foot into his back. He smashed against the ground, crying out in pain. He was able to recover, however, and shakily stood up. Axel wagged a finger in front of his face, teasingly reprimanding the child.

"Hey, did we _tell _you to get up? I don't think so." He swung one of the rings, carving a long and deep slash into Sora's stomach. Sora grunted, falling back onto his knees and clutching his now bleeding abdomen. "Now, be a good boy and stay down." Marluxia was next, and he sighed in fake sorrow, pressing his free hand against his forehead while the opposite loosely grasped his scythe.

"What a shame. I'd hate to have to ruin such a cute face." He held out his scythe, and the cloud of _sakura _flowing around it scattered around the room, their razor-sharp edges cutting into the ex-Keyblade Master again and again. The cuts were all superficial, barely drawing blood, but were enough to sting something fierce. Sora ducked his head in-between his knees, but that left the rest of his body open to be shredded. He bit his lip until it bled as well, but didn't scream.

That was, until Larxene drove one of her knives into his previously-dislocated shoulder. He fell onto his back, wrenching at the embedded blade. Blood flowed freely from the wound, as he struggled to pull it out and Larxene struggled to keep it in. She straddled him, a maniac gleam in her eyes.

"Don't like it? Well, then, you're _really _gonna' hate _this_!" Suddenly thousands of volts of electricity shot through the blade and into Sora's body. He screamed as loud as he possibly could, grasping onto Larxene's arm as if his life depended on it. Either the electricity didn't affect her, or she didn't care, as she continued on. Sora's ears rang, fading out the sounds of him being electrocuted. He shut his eyes, but even hidden behind his eyelids, all he could see was white. This was it; he was going to die, there and now. He hadn't been able to save Kairi or turn Riku back to the light or save the worlds or, hell, even get his own sword back. His grip on Larxene's arm tightened as his muscles gave a final, strong jerk, then stilled.

After what seemed like forever, the electrocution stopped. Larxene held up Sora's limp, barely conscious frame by his hood, eyeing him uninterestedly. After a second, she threw him against the wall, where his head smashed against it with a solid _thwack_. He slid to the ground, out cold.

"Finally," Axel sighed. "After all this time, we've found what we need. That was almost _too _easy." He dismissed his chakrams, no doubt disappointed about how he didn't get a chance to beat up the ex-Keyblade Master, too, yet still glad to have him in his control. Marluxia wasn't the only one with a superiority complex. And speaking of Marluxia…

Marluxia picked up the unconscious boy, one hand pressing against his shoulder blades and the other on the backside of his knees. Sora's arms draped loosely towards the ground, his head turned towards him, though involuntarily. He looked so adorable and innocent in that moment to the Graceful Assassin that he had trouble staving off the urge to hug him, tell him that everything was going to be alright. Or to undress him in his mind like the pervert he truely is. He rubbed his nose with his fist, drying off any traces of blood that appeared there.

No one noticed the radio still playing a small amount of static, or the shocked silence on the other end.

* * *

_BUN WON ONE!!! I hope you all enjoyed the carange there. I did! x3 Don't mind the last part--I always believed Marluxia was such a pedophile. I mena, look at how he acts around Namine! And Sora (in the manga)! But this is neither the time nor the place for a rant such as that. If you want to hear my side of things, just check out my main page. And while you're at it, check out my DA gallery and other writings:D_

_And there you have it. The main problem of the story has been put into play. Sora's been stolen! What will Ansem do? What about Donald and Goofy? Who cares about Donald and Goofy (just kidding)? Can Riku snap out of Ansem's control before Sora gets killed and they come after him next? Will Ansem be able to regain the final Princess's heart? Will I ever find that 62 cents I dropped down the couch cushions? Find out... LATER IN THE STORY! 8O It'll be epic._

_Your buddeh,_

_Nami (AKA Psycho)._

_((Marluxia is a PEDO! MarluxiaxSora is my personal AKUROKU! You're going to be devoured by CHICKENS! 8D You read nothing.))_


	4. Chapter 4

**Psycho Director: **-Insert witty comment here-

**Rated PG--PG-13: Minimum violence, minimum language, slight sexual references. Yes, I'm scared, too.**

**KH NOT MINE. Duh.**

**WARNING:: May contain a small _Naruto _cameo.**

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**C**id had cranked the volume of the radio as far as it would go, straining to hear any more sounds. Sora's screams of pain had died off moments earlier, and he now heard random shuffling and voices.

"Mar-Mar, I think I should carry him," A high-pitched, female voice taunted.

"Why should I let you? You always break all your toys, Larxene," a cool, low, male voice responded.

"It's not that. I just don't trust you anywhere near prepubescent boys." This was followed by the sound of two other people snickering. "And you're just as bad as he is, Axel." One of the snickers stopped, while the other got slightly louder. Cid, however, found nothing at all funny.

"I'd mind your tongue if I were you, Number XII. It's unwise to poke fun at your superior."

"Who died and made you queen, Marluxia?" She sounded shocked. This argument would have probably escalated, were it not for a third voice cutting in.

"Alright, I think the radio's heard enough," the third voice interrupted.

"Huh? What radio?" Larxene inquired. There was a pause, where Cid guessed the third voice was pointing to said radio. Larxene growled in fury. "That little sneak!" There was the sound of sparks shooting off. Cid decided that he had had enough, and wanted some answers.

"Hey!" he yelled loudly, startling the three (four?) villains. "Who are ya people? What are ya plannin' t' do with Sora?" There was another pause, and Cid's patience began to wear thin.

"Awfully demanding for someone who doesn't hold any of the cards," a fourth, male voice, cool and collected, spoke up.

"Answer me!" Cid yelled through the radio speakers. Yet another pause. Cid ground his teeth together impatiently. Larxene giggled.

"If it's this pipsqueak punk you're worried about, then don't. He's going to be just fine. We're going off to a magical world, where there's candy and cake and all that junk kids like. _Isn't dat wite_?"

"Cut the shit, already!" Cid demanded harshly. "Just tell me what the hell ya think yer doin'!" Another pause. Cid was getting so sick of this.

"Well, if you _must _know, we're going to take him back home with us. We need him to get back something very important that we all lost, whether he wants to or not. But don't worry; we have to let him live, if that's what you're all concerned about. So you just sit back and twiddle your thumbs, and maybe we'll give him back when we're done. But I'm warning you—" she lowered her voice down, "—if you try and stop us, you will never, ever see your midget friend again. Got it?" Cid yelled obscenities (mostly 'yeah, right, you sadistic, heartless bitch' over and over again), but Larxene had already broken the connection.

Cid stared at the radio for a very long time, silent. It had just shown him a tiny piece of the hell his young friend was going through, yet had the _nerve _to remain mute after that, like nothing had happened. Sora was helpless in the hands of some magic-wielding thugs, being taken to God knows where in the entire multiverse, and in a helluva lot of pain, probably. Meanwhile, he was just sitting there, staring at a turned-off radio. Well, that would have to stop—_now_.

"Now, where are Cloud, Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith…" Cid asked himself aloud, running off. He may not have known where Sora was, but he could look. And that would have to do.

* * *

When Sora woke up again, he realized that he had no clue where he was. Cautiously, he sat up, then cried out and grabbed his shoulder as it seared in white-hot pain. The memories of his fight from earlier came rushing back in a flash, and he winced. They had knocked him out, but… where did they bring him?

Sora looked around the area, struggling to find something familiar. He was in a small room, about twelve-foot square. There wasn't anything at all in it, besides the starchy old cot he was currently sitting on, and a worn wooden door. He later learned that it led to the bathroom. Three of the walls were a cold stone, and the fourth wall was not actually a wall at all, but a set of vertical bars. For some reason, there wasn't a door besides the one to the bathroom. Then, how did he get in here? He had no clue.

Beyond the bars, Sora noticed, was a guard. He was sitting impassively on a plain wooden chair, facing away from his prisoner. His hair was orange and cropped short, swirling up like a head full of pencil shavings. He too had on the familiar black cloak that the Coats all wore. He was reading a book, but Sora couldn't tell what book it was.

"Um, excuse me," Sora began awkwardly, walking up to get a closer look at the guard, then grabbing onto the bars for support. He knew using rudeness and demanding answers would get him nowhere, seeing as he had no weapon and he was too beat up to fight. Plus he was under lock and key. He had to at least try and be nice. The guard shifted his head slightly, and Sora took that as a cue to continue. "Hi. Where am I?"

The guard ignored him. Sora waited for a moment, then spoke again, louder this time.

"Can you tell me where I am?" Still no reply. Sora called up all the patience he had in him—which wasn't much—and tried one more time.

"Please, can't you at least tell me where those other guys brought me to? _Please_?" He stared at the back of the Coat's head intently, trying to psychically force out an answer. The Coat grunted and turned a page after a moment, still ignoring the brunet. Sora sighed in defeat. This wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

Sora passed the time leisurely, first by drawing on the rock ground with a small stone he had found in the corner. After his one good arm started getting tired, he tried whistling… then daydreaming… then trying to take a nap (he failed; the cot was too uncomfortable and he wasn't tired at all)… then playing with a cockroach… then telling a long-winded and pointless story to the guard about the Secret Place for _over an hour_… then finally collapsing from overwhelming boredom.

"Man!" he groaned, pressing a hand against his forehead. "How long have I been here?"

"Seventy-two minutes." Sora jumped. He had been just thinking out loud; he hadn't expected an answer, and certainly not from the guard!

"You… you said something!" Sora yelled incredulously. The guard nodded.

"I still have eighteen minutes before I shift." Sora decided to press his luck.

"Shift what? The guard?" The Coat nodded again. Sora didn't want to scare off the Coat's newborn ability to talk, but curiosity got the better of him.

"Wait. Why did you ignore me earlier, but you're willing to talk now?" The Coat held up his book, and Sora was able to see the title: _Ichi-Ichi Paradise_.

"I wanted to finish this novel." He unexpectedly tossed it back. Sora fumbled it at first, stretching his arms far out from the bars, but managed to grab it firmly. "You can read it if you want to." Sora blinked. He hadn't been expecting a random act of kindness, however small, here of all places.

"R-really? Thanks!" He grinned, then flopped down on the cot and opened the book. He paused at one of the pages, gazing at it in surprise. He then hastily rubbed away a spurt of blood from his nose. He hadn't suspected that the book would be so… well… un-Disney. Still, it was the only thing left to do in this small cell, and he needed to hit puberty sometime.

The next few minutes passed by surprisingly quickly with a kinky _Naruto_ referance to pass the time. Just as Sora was getting to a particularly interesting chapter, he heard the sound of the Coat standing up. He looked up at him.

"Shifting already?" Sora asked. The Coat nodded. He started walking away, leaving Sora alone and kind of deserted, then paused.

"By the way," he added in, turning to face Sora. He took this as a good sign. "Watch out for Marluxia." Sora scoffed.

"Yeah, I already know about Marluxia. He's an asshole." The Coat snorted. Sora crossed his arms, feeling offended. "I mean it."

"No, I mean, he's the next guard, after Demyx. He's not just an asshole; he's a pedophile as well. Don't let him get too close to you." Sora shuddered at the possibility.

"Got it." The Coat brightened.

"If he tries to hit on you—" he rapped on one of the steel bars, "—tell me. I'll take care of the problem." Sora beamed.

"You'd really do that?" He said incredulously.

"Don't take it personally. Axel, Larxene, Zexion, and I have been begging for an excuse to beat the living daylights out of him." Sora laughed.

"I'll let you know, for sure." The Coat hinted at a smile, then walked off. Sora waved after him, then turned back to his cot. _Ichi-Ichi Paradise _was upside-down on it, forming a little tent. He picked it up, then continued reading.

Anyway, it could be worse.

The next guard was late. Sora didn't have to be a psychic to tell that much. It had partially to do with the long minutes of free time he was enjoying as best as he could, and partially from the random yelling some floors above.

Finally, a tall blonde Coat came strolling in. His hair was done up in a sort-of mullet, and he was carrying a shiny steel tray and whistling merrily. Sora wasn't sure what to make of this guy just yet, so he tried keeping his distance. Kairi had explained to him once, months ago, how first impressions could stick with you, sometimes for life. His clearly said, "I don't trust you in the least". Well, it was the truth, after all.

Now that the guard Coat had come up to Sora's prison cell, his merry demeanor seemed to have… not vanished, but significantly waned. He held up the tray (which Sora could now see held a steaming bowl of curry, some shrimp and sauce, and green tea) like a shield between the two of them. Sora's stomach growled, slowly and mournfully, though he tried to hide it on instinct. He had skipped lunch when they were heading to Hollow Bastion, too anxious to even think about eating, and had only had a little breakfast on Goofy's beseeching. Now his body was paying the price, and it took all of his internal strength not to jump at the food the Coat was offering.

"Parlay?" He opened up one of the swirling masses of darkness Sora had seen Axel use, then stepped into it, tray in tow. Suddenly an identical portal appeared inside the cell, and he stepped out of it. Sora jumped, and so did the blonde. Guess he thought Sora was sleeping or something. He continued on with his attempt at a truce, a bit more awkwardly.

"I brought dinner," he added hopefully. Sora nodded vacantly, still staring at the cuisine, completely famished. He reached warily for a piece of shrimp, snatching it in-between his fingers. He was about to eat it, when he noticed the blonde Coat staring at him expectantly and hopefully through his peripheral vision. He glared at him.

"_What_?" The blonde Coat shuddered, then turned the other way. Sora was about to apologize when his stomach let out another loud growl, reminding him of his current goal. He dipped the shrimp piece into the sauce experimentally, then took a small bite. Then another. Then another. In two minutes he had cleared the plate of every last crumb and wolfed down the tea, barely retraining himself from licking the plate as well.

"Like it?" The blonde asked cautiously. Sora nodded thankfully, and the blonde grinned, more to himself than at Sora. Sora frowned, not quite sure how to say what was on his mind.

"Uh… Can I…" He held up the empty plate to the Coat, smiling sheepishly. As if on cue, his stomach gave a third, low rumble. "Please?" The blonde stared him down firmly.

"No, never." Sora's smile melted off his face like butter, and he cast his eyes downward, crestfallen.

"…Okay." he mumbled. The blonde laughed, startling him.

"Ha! Just kidding! I'll go get some." He took the tray out of Sora's surprised hands, then opened up another portal. This time, however, the other end to the portal didn't appear just outside of the bars, but presumably higher up in the castle. Sora waited anxiously, peering out from the prison and sifting through _Ichi-Ichi Paradise._ Suddenly, much to his bewilderment, someone upstairs screeched angrily. Half a second later, a dark portal appeared in Sora's cell. Demyx ran in giddily, toting a tray full of candy. Sora's eyes sparkled at the sight of all of the sugary goodness, and he grabbed at a shiny wrapped envelope labeled 'Meiji'.

"Stole them from Larxene's room. She didn't think anyone knew where she kept stashing all of the candy," the blonde whispered to Sora. Sora recalled the blonde-haired woman who had stabbed him with one of a set of small, electric knives, and touched his shoulder timidly.

"_Demyx, you get your musical pansy ass back here and give me back my freaking CANDY_!" A voice from upstairs shrieked. The blonde—Demyx—only snickered, then positioned himself on the cot near Sora's left—closest to the door, with the candy between him and Sora. He took a bag of adobo-flavored cracker nuts, then tore it open and munched away. The rants and threats continued for some time upstairs, then ended with a grudging, "I hope you choke on them", then silence.

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_Finally... it ends... I mean, to be continued! Mua ha ha ha ha! By the way, did I get the title for the book right? It's been a while since I watched/read _Naruto_... eh. Whatever._


	5. Chapter 5

**Psycho Director: Maaaaan, I really don't feel like putting anything here. :(**

**Rated PG-13:

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After a few seconds of quiet chewing, Demyx held out his hand in front of him. A large sphere of water appeared in his palm, then it began to glow and morph, much like Marluxia's scythe had. Finally a light blue instrument formed, scattering water droplets all over. Demyx placed it on his lap, then stuck his arms under it. 

"Mind if I play?" he asked Sora. Sora shrugged; like he would say no!

"Go ahead." He was surprised to hear Demyx play the odd instrument so well. It was very relaxing, and he began to feel very, very drowsy. He had stayed up all night for two nights now, fighting off Heartless in Captain Hook's ship and awaiting the arrival to Hollow Bastion. The adrenaline that had kept him going without enough eating or sleeping was evaporating swiftly, and the cot seemed much more comfortable than it actually was.

"You okay?" Sora didn't answer strait away, instead curling up into a ball, the candy tray pressing against his knees.

"Mm," he mumbled a reply, which meant 'yes'. "…Is nice… gonna' rest my eyes… a bit…" He quieted. Demyx blinked slowly, then smiled. He grabbed up the tray, then eased himself out of the cot, before noticing something. Curled up like that, Sora didn't even take up half of the makeshift bed. The rest lay vacant, waiting patiently for a larger and more grown-up person—the proper person—to take Sora's place. It wasn't made for such childish measurements.

Demyx bit his lip, then sighed and turned away.

* * *

Sora was jerked awake about an hour later. He came around blearily, the blurred shape of Demyx coming into view first. Demyx was outside the bars, walking away crisply.

"Huhn… uh… wait…" Sora groaned, sitting up and rubbing his right eye with his knuckle. "Where are you…?" Demyx paused, and Sora yawned loudly.

"We're changing the guard," he replied brusquely. Sora laced his fingers together, then stretched his arms up into the air.

"…Oh," was all he said. He remembered the previous guard talking about the guard after Demyx, Marluxia. He snapped awake, adrenaline running through his veins once more. They were just gonna' leave him there, weaponless, with a _gay pedophile thug_? Did they _want _him to get raped or something? "B-but… but…"

"Don't worry; Mar's all talk. You'll be fine." Sora looked at him with the largest puppy-dog eyes he could make, which didn't seem to be working. Suddenly, like lightning, he had a brilliant idea. He ran over to the cot and picked up the empty metal tray.

"Oh, you left this," Sora stated, holding it up matter-of-factly. Demyx laughed.

"Right, my bad! Sorry." He held out his hand, signaling for Sora to pass the tray through the bars. Sora gave a quick, silent prayer, then attempted to press it through. As he had hoped, the cheesy decorations on it made it just a bit too large to fit between the bars. Demyx noticed, as well.

"Oh, nevermind, then. I'll come in and get it." Sora tried his best to still look scared, but a smile kept threatening at the corners of his lips. A swirling black darkness portal appeared in front of him, as Demyx prepared to come inside and grab the tray. Now was his chance!

As quick as possible, Sora bolted to the portal, then dived through it. He yelped as the unexpected cold inside the portal bit at his skin, then rolled expertly to a stop on the other end. He was free! Thanking whatever gods there were, he darted down the left hallway and deeper into the strange enemy base.

"Ah? _H-hey_!" Demyx cried, realizing Sora's plan just a second too late. "Get back here!" He ran after Sora, but wasn't fast enough. Despite not knowing the area and being sleep-deprived, Sora was quicker and had a head start, so he quickly managed to evade his pursuer.

Well, one of them, anyway.

* * *

Sora pressed his back against the wall, panting for air. He had done it. He had broken out of prison, like a real convict. He wasn't sure whether to feel proud or disturbed, then decided on the former.

"Yes!" he whispered, peering around a corner he had come from. No one was there, great! Now all he had to do was find a way out of this basement area, work his way to the top floor without alerting anyone to his presence, then find his way back to a world, where he could fly back to Traverse Town. Easy, right? "I made it this far, I can do this."

"Really, you think so?" Sora jumped at the composed, yet sinister voice coming from behind him, so close that the vocalist could only be inches away. Suddenly a pair of pale, smooth hands snatched the boy. One tightened painfully around his chest and arms, while the other was forced against his mouth to keep him from screaming. Sora let out a stifled yell of alarm nonetheless, kicking out against the attacker, clawing at one hand, and trying to bite the other. The voice spoke again, this time with an underlying hint of menace.

"Trying to elude me, my tiny little jailbird?" He crooned. Sora tried to yell out a vicious response, but all that came out was a series of gagged muffles. The man behind him—who he now recognized as Marluxia—sighed melodramatically. "You don't understand. I would be so very unhappy if you were to leave us so soon. I want you to stay here, with me." With that line, Sora felt something warm and wet slide around the rim of his ear. He shuddered—a strong wave passing through his body, made up of all the hatred he had built up inside him. Fighting off the urge to panic fully, he tried harder to shake off the villain, kicking and thrashing for all he was worth. Marluxia seemed slightly upset at this, but Sora drove on, so he tried to calm the teen in his soft, droning way.

"Quiet now. You cannot hope to win. Do not make it painful for yourself." Sora opened his mouth as wide as he could, then bit down on Marluxia's hand as a response. The warm taste and feel of blood quickly filled his mouth, and he felt sick. He longed to spit out the vile stuff—if he could only break free! Marluxia winced and grunted, then did what Sora had been hoping for. He removed his hand, and Sora thankfully spat out the blood with a "yuck!". However, his coughing up the red liquid was cut off as he was dropped, then hit the ground with a thud.

"I warned you to keep still, Sora. I hate to see you suffer." Sora was about to respond when he felt something slide across his arms and bare ankles. He looked down, then gasped. Ribbon-like vines were snaking up from the floor of their own accord and draping over him.

"Q-quit it! Go away!" He slapped at the vines and forced his way onto his knees, but they kept coming. Two wrung around his wrists tightly, then forced his wrists behind his back and pressed them against each other. Sora wrenched and tore against them, but they just wound around again and again. More tightened around his ankles, and still more wound across his upper arms and chest. Finally they stopped, but they had done their job. Sora couldn't move, but he could scream. "Bastard! _Bastard_! Let me go! I hate you!" Marluxia only smiled, and reached into his pocket.

"Your complaining is really starting to get on my nerves." He pulled his hand out, but it was not alone. It was clutching a roll of duct tape, and Sora knew what it was for. He struggled against the vines, gritting his teeth with the effort. Marluxia tore off a piece leisurely, making sure it was the right length.

"_No_! _No_! Leave me alone! You don't understand _anything_! You don't want me! Stop!" Too late. The gag was on, and he couldn't argue anymore, only mumble incomprehensibly.

"Come on. Let's head back, before I have to hurt you." He grabbed the hood of Sora's jacket, then swung him over one shoulder. "You're a fool. You could have come back willingly, but you refused. Haven't you learned? You'll never win." Sora screamed an incoherent reply through the tape, which went ignored.

_Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy… Where are you? I need your help… _he thought, blinking back angry tears. The vines rubbed painfully against his skin, chafing it. The gag tasted awful against his lips, and he wasn't exactly comfortable being carried back this way. Finally, he didn't know what the pink-haired freak was going to do with him, and that was what hurt the most. _You're not honestly going to leave me here… are you?

* * *

_

"_Riku_!?" Donald and Goofy cried out, staring at the Keyblade Master. He had buried his black sword into the wall in a fit of rage, so that only about half of the blade still stuck out. The anthros had lost him some time before in the maze-like castle, and when they had found him again, he was in a furious state.

"Dammit!" Riku yelled in his double-voice, wrenching his blade form the wall and scattering plaster onto the floor and onto his new suit. "It's gone!"

"W-what's gone?" Goofy asked fearfully. Without the third member of the Trinity, his normal valor was shot. Riku glared at him, and he balked.

"The final Princess's heart! It was stolen from me, you filthy animal!" He paced back and forth, up and down the hallway. "Either that, or the heart that resonates with it commanded it to leave. Those children are fools! Sora disregarded his _destiny_ for his pitiful feelings! And Riku, why, he told him to do so! What naïve fools!"

"What are you talking about?" Donald yelled at the teen. "Make sense, will ya'?!"

"Wait, you're not Riku at all, are you?" Goofy translated, to Donald's astonishment. Riku's frown only deepened.

"I was wondering when you'd figure that out. My name is Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness!"

"Ansem!" Goofy cried.

"From the Report!" Donald added in. "What are you doing in Riku's body?" Ansem smirked slightly.

"That's another story, one I don't have time to indulge you in. I need to find the heart!" Suddenly another, female voice came up.

"I'm afraid that will be impossible. Couldn't you smell it outside?" The black, willowy figure of Maleficent strolled out from beyond the hallway. "That strange smell, or lack thereof… of nothingness itself?" Ansem froze, his look that of shock, then slammed his fist against the wall.

"No! This isn't part of the plan! They're not supposed to show up until after I have slaughtered the second Keybearer, then sent the first to darkness! They're far too early!" Maleficent remained calm.

"Does he mean Sora?" Goofy whispered to Donald.

"I think so," he whispered back, "but which one is he? The second or the first?"

"In spite of this, it seems they have discovered the need for the Keyblade sooner than we had hoped. The final heart was just an unexpected addition to their package," Maleficent crooned to Ansem. He clenched his fists, grinding his teeth together. "Cheer up. This could be beneficial to us, after all."

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Donald spoke to Maleficent. "What package? What heart?" Maleficent smiled at them, in a kind of way that made you want to go screaming home to Mum.

"It's really very simple. The Organization is after Kingdom Hearts, but to get it, they need the Keyblade. So, believing that your friend still has it in his possession, they kidnapped him in order to harness it. The fools have no idea that we took it from him! Ha!" She cackled loudly, and the anthros gasped, tuning to each other as they both had the same realization.

"_Sora_!" they yelled as one.

* * *

_To be continued!_


	6. Chapter 6

**_P_sycho Director: **Hello. My name is Psycho. I get changed by the letter here for no reason, so that 'director' had to die. Plus, Psycho sounds cooler than Psycho Director, don't cha' think? Don't worry if you don't like it; I normally use the full name or Nami Hikari anyway. Daaamn I have a lot of pysudonyms. Oh, well.

I'd like to take this opportunity to answer some great comments I got. I'm going to answer them by person instead of by comment, to save us some time. Ready? Here we go! -Puts on psychiatrist glasses in EPIC PREPARATION-

_Dear Demons of Raquiz (a foreign country somewhere in the state of Canada),_

_I did. _

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

_**Dear Taora (roughly translated, that's a brand of squeezy loofahs),**_

_**Really? Well, good. LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELULZSPAM! 8D **_

**_...That would make sense. Whelp, I guess I have to get used to it. Either that or I can get off my lazy bum and start faving and commenting on stories, but I don't wanna' do that. That involves effort._**

**_O RLY!? Thanks! Yeah, that would also make sense, as 'who's' is an abbreviation of 'who is', so the sentence would be 'who is side are you on!? 8O' which would be awesome, but painfully irrelevant. Thatnks for the advice! I totally missed that. Typos suck. _**

**_That's good to know. If _I_ saw him, I'd make a mental note to keep a close eye on how much marker fumes I've been inhaling, _then _run after you. Remember, the key is not to escape, it's to make sure you outrun your friend first... I'm screwed. 8(_**

**_Hey, I once drew Sora in a dress! 8D Or... three times... I couldn't get the picture to look right, cut me some slack! It was silly. _**

**_I will! _**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

_Dear Usagi-Zakura (the name's weird because it's Turkish, obviously),_

_Yes, yes it does. 8I Okay-dokey then!_

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

**_Dear Xed14thKey (14th!? What happened to eight through thirteen!? Nine through thirteen, if you count Roxas. I don't. He's not special. D),_**

**_Why thank you. I will, so you can release the hostages now. The police will never suspect a thing._**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

_Dear Kairi's Friend (you lie. No one is Kairi's friend. XP),_

_Sorry, I don't even do **gay** marriages. But there's this guy in Kentucky I could refer you to... A: Because I wanted to make it close to their actual personalities. Lexeous seems like a guy who'd mostly keep to himself, Demyx is generally portrayed as ditzy, but nice... and I dun like Marluxia. A. They have to know he's missing, first. A. See the previous chapter. A better question would be how did they manage to find the Princess's hearts in the first place! That's still confusing me... A. Mayinhaps yes, mayinhaps no. He might show up near the end; nothing's really set in stone right now. A. Yeah. I ate it and it became a dollar. Cool._

_I WILL! THANKS A TON!_

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

**_Dear Nierx ("Sounds like a Nobody to me.""Alright, now I'm _insulted_..." LULZSCQUOTE),_**

**_Damn straight. I won me enough points from that score to buy myself the Internet. xD_**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

_Sahxyel (STILL sounds like a Nobody...),_

_Duuuuuude. What up?_

_...8o Wow. I feel so warm and special every time I read that. Like I has the mad writing skills. If only my English teacher would agree..._

_Seriously, thanks a ton. If the Specialness Level I'm going through right now were amounted in money, I'd proabbly have almost enough to pay off the lawsuits for Huricane Katrina (yes, even that psychopath who wants to sue for 3,000,000,000,000 dollars. The US doesn't have that kind of money. BILL GATES doesn't have that kind of money. THE GUYS WHO MADE YOUTUBE don't have that kind of money. MEXICO doesn't have that kind of money. Ha, Katrina jokes are funny.)_

_...I have a potty mouth._ _8(_

_Noes! Cry with me! I dun wanna' play God anymore! D8 No, wait, yeah I do._

_Well, Marluxia is probably my least favorite, so I have a habit of making him out to be a jerk. There's going to be this scene in _We All Go a Little Crazy Sometimes_, where---Is bashed over the head by the No-Spoiler pan- Pain hurts. Sorry about the stereotyping, but after he kicked my butt 347 times in a row in CoM, I have a vendetta to take care of. Plus, he really is, more noticably in the manga. Especially to Namine, the child-abusing jerky mcjerk. -unhappy face-_

_Thanks! Coming right up!_

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

**_Dear Phoenix80hp (Like from DA! Hi!),_**

**_That does seem to be the case, doesn't it? Strange... I don't need to do anything! Not even breathe!... -Passes out-_**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

Boy, that took forever. Now, ON WITH THE FIC!!! 8D

**

* * *

**

**S**ora wasn't exactly happy about his current situation. In fact, he was outright terrified. The vines around his chest had been removed, but the ones around his wrists had dug themselves into the wall about a foot above his head, like shackles. Plus, he was still gagged, and back in his cell. He was beginning to hate his cell.

"You must be hungry," Marluxia mused to him, bending down and cupping his chin in one icy hand. Sora turned his head to the side to wrench it out of his grip, a thousand bitter replies jumping from his throat to his mouth and dying as they hit the gag all at once.

Marluxia seemed upset. "Not even a little? When was the last time you had a good meal?"

_Half an hour ago, you moron, _Sora thought, shaking his head. Still, what Marluxia didn't know couldn't hurt him—but it could possibly hurt Sora. When would be the next time Demyx would be back? It might not be for days. And would he still be kind enough to give him something to eat after that? Or would he have to rely on this pedo-freak just to eat (eat what, exactly, he dared not ask himself)? And what about after Marluxia left? Were they going to starve him? Or what about when they found out he didn't have what they needed? They would probably kill him off quickly, having no use for him, or maybe torture him until they realized he couldn't call it and then kill him. Or maybe they'd give him away to Marluxia. Or would they, just maybe, keep him alive, until they found out all they wanted to know about the Keyblade? Every prospect seemed horrible.

"It's a pity. Who knows when the next time an opportunity like this will happen? I would have given you whatever you were hungry for. A trade." He smirked, then; an evil grin. "Perhaps I could still get my share of the trade…? I don't hear a 'no'."

_Of course not! I'm gagged, you dumbass_! Sora screamed these thoughts behind the gag, but of course they were incomprehensible. With a casual smirk, Marluxia reached over with one hand and tore off the gag. Sora cried out as the duct tape pulled at his skin, leaving behind a light red mark.

"What would you say?" Marluxia asked.

"_Screw you_!" Sora yelled back, then gasped as he noticed the double-meaning behind his words. Marluxia grinned wider, reaching down and brushing his hand across the left side of Sora's chest, feeling his heart pound with fear.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Suddenly, much to both of their's surprise, a dark portal appeared near them. Axel stepped out with an air of casualness, but as soon as he saw them, his eyes widened and he stopped. Neither Marluxia nor Sora moved, both staring at him in shock.

"Oh, sorry. Did I… miss something? Just came along to make sure you were doing your job, Marly." They both caught the hint of a smirk on his face. "You _are_ doing your job, right?" Marluxia was infuriated, but he hid it well.

"Of course I am. I have well over an hour to convince Naminé, and I already have a fool-proof plan." It was getting harder for Axel to hide his laughter.

"Oh, I get it. You've got so much time on your hands, you figured: why not have some fun? After all, the promises of candy to little kids if they hop into your dark portal really aren't working too good, are they?" Marluxia's face turned red, but he didn't say anything for a while. He had to keep calm.

"I was only… trying to gather… meaningful information. But of course, you wouldn't understand that, would you? It's always incinerate first, _then_ questions. Bet you're still wondering why it's so hard to interrogate a pile of _ash_, aren't you?" The vines around Sora's wrists and ankles turned charred and black in a second, then crumbled to dust. Sora rubbed his sore wrists gratefully.

"Well, it gets things done. For you see, I stick to my goals. I don't let little boys or a mirror or _oh my gosh flowers_ to distract me. Perhaps you could learn a lesson or two from your superior." He sighed, waving his hand in a very flamboyant manner, then plucked Sora off the ground by his wrist. "But, alas, I've come to expect that from you. Very well. If you won't do your job, I will. Who knows? Maybe I can get up _another_ rank."

"Axel, I believe I am perfectly capable of an _escort_ and asking a girl for a favor!" Axel shrugged.

"I don't know… the odds are pretty high against you. Naminé's room is a little ways away, and you two would be going there _alone_, and we all know girls make you uncomfortable." Sora still didn't say anything, but clutched a little tighter to the side of Axel's cloak.

"Let's go, shorty. Maybe by the time we get back, Marly's Viagra would have worn off." They stepped through a portal to a chorus of "we're only three years apart, you miscreant!" and other, less appropriate terms.

* * *

Axel rapped on the door. It was a plain white one, the same as almost every other door in wherever they were. Sora stared up at him, curious. Was this a blessing in disguise, or another trap?

"Come in," a small, female voice mumbled. Well, that was a bit of relief. She didn't sound like she'd want to, or be able to, rape/hurt him. Still, voices were sometimes betraying. They stepped into the room without a word.

The room was large and white, with no windows. The only furniture in the room was a large white table with one chair, which was currently occupied. The taker in question was a girl a little younger than Sora, with long blonde hair and a white dress to match the room. She was staring at them, a crayon poised in her hand. A large sketchbook and plastic rack of crayons were on the table, signifying what she had been doing with the crayon she was holding.

"Ah, Naminé," Axel greeted, stepping into the room. Not having anything else to do, Sora followed suit. Naminé blushed slightly, and Sora wondered why. It wasn't that cold in the room, was it? "You're just who I wanted to see."

With a jerk, Axel pushed Sora forward a few steps. He stumbled a little, but managed not to fall. Axel continued speaking, as if nothing had happened.

"This is my friend, Sora. Sora has a problem. You see, what Sora really wants most in the world is a really pretty picture, and we were hoping you could help him out.

"A… picture?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow. Axel continued on, in a voice that would make a radio announcer cry in shame.

"Yes, a picture. But not just _any_ picture. No, what he really wants is a picture of a quaint little set of islands, and of two special people. Something like this." With a flourish, he took three photographs out of his cloak pocket, then slammed them on the table. Sora glanced over at them, then gasped. There were three: one of Riku, one of Kairi, and one of Destiny Islands. Sora turned his shocked gaze to Axel.

"How did you get those?" he asked, stunned. Axel ignored him.

"Oh, and one more thing, Naminé…" Naminé looked up at him, curious. Her crayon was already pointed at the paper. Axel smirked. "Where you're done with that picture…

"…Shred it into pieces. OK?" He didn't wait for her answer, instead slamming the door shut behind him. Neither one of the children knew why he had asked such an odd favor. They couldn't even harbor a guess. Still, neither of them bothered to question him, and neither of them found out the reason behind the picture… until four days later.

* * *

_Four days later…_

_The Dark_

Riku stumbled along in the dark, his shoes scuffing into the sandy ground. He had no clue where he was, only that it was because of Ansem… and himself. He had brought himself into this place by letting Ansem in. Now Sora was probably being hunted down by Ansem, and Kairi… _Oh, God, Kairi_!She was still lifeless. He knew the only way to get her back would be if he… if he killed Sora. How ironic. To save one friend's life, he'd have to kill the other. But he couldn't do either, now. He was trapped here. He had been trapped here for three long, miserable days.

A cold breeze darted across the sky—if you could even call it a sky—and made Riku shiver a little. Well, in actuality, it wasn't what he'd normally consider a breeze. The dark area was entirely windless, with only occasional drops or rises in temperature. Riku had come to consider these breezes, as the word alone reminded him of the cool island breezes that normally came at home.

_Home_. Riku's feet failed him, and he flopped onto the ground like a puppet with its strings cut in midair. Home was where, long ago, he had been happy. Where he and Sora and Kairi ran across sand gleaming white and kissed by the sun, kicking it up in sparkling clouds as they ran. Home was where the breezes sent his hair dancing across his vision, where it pressed against his face like a lover's touch. Where the fruits were always so ripe they threatened to drop at the slightest tug, where the skies were always painted with just the right shade of pastel blue, where the ocean brought promise of both adventure and firm security. Where people still loved him.

Now, now the sand was a frostbitten mass which melted into ocean whenever he lost focus, and only slithered in a dead way to the ground when he kicked it. The breeze was dead, and the land lay barren and empty, echoing with pitiful demands for power and tears of sorrow from the drug it was made entirely of. It pulled people like him in with whispered promises of strength and glory, drawing them ever closer to its hungry jaws. By the time people realized what it really was, it had devoured them. Riku was no exception, and not only he, but also everyone he knew, had suffered because of it.

Were his friends still alive, even? Riku doubted that. Kairi was helpless in the paws of a madman, and was only needed to open the very door Riku cowered behind. And Sora, he knew, would tail after his 'friends' like a devoted puppy until something came along and stopped him, Keyblade or no.

After the door had opened, Ansem would be consumed with the drug, driven well off the brink of insanity and gifted powers beyond anyone's imagination. Riku closed his eyes as his pessimistic predictions invaded his vision, but they continued to play on the backs of his eyelids. His friends, attempting to stop Ansem even after he was near omnipotence, all in an attempt to 'save' his own sorry hide… Ansem laughing at their feeble attempts… Ansem using them as targets for his new, twisted skills… Their terrified screams as they died… Ansem dominating the universe in a violent river of blood.

"Sora… Kairi…" he groaned, digging his fingers into the icy blue sand in frustration, "Please be OK… If only I could find you two… _warn_ you…"

_You can, Riku. _Riku's head darted up.

"Who's there?!" he called out. "Hello?" The voice spoke again.

_Sora's in trouble. I can take you there, but you have to trust me._

"Sora? …Well, that depends. Who are you?" A slight pause.

_Just call me Mickey. _Riku nodded.

"Hey. I'm Riku, but you already know that. What's happening to Sora?"

_There's no time to explain. You can either trust me, or keep going as you are._

"What happens if I pick the latter?

_You wander around aimlessly until someone finds you or you find a path to the light. This could take anywhere from a few seconds to years. But if you do, your friend… he could die. _Riku considered this. While there was no way he wanted Sora to die, he wasn't sure if he could trust this voice. Still, it seemed friendly enough, and if worse came to worse, he was sure he could find a way to fight it off. In the end, he nodded slowly.

"Alright, Mickey. I trust you. Now, take me to Sora. Err, please."

_Alright! Though I warn you, you might not like what you see. Hold on…_ There was a blinding white light. Riku held his arm in front of his eyes, grunting. The entire area was bathed a pure white, blinding the fifteen-year-old. Then, suddenly, it was gone.

Riku glanced around. He was in a white hallway, strewn with intricate pillars and flower basket-shaped statues. The hallway stretched on in either direction, like an illusion puzzle on the back of a cereal box. He looked around, noticing nothing interesting. With a sigh, he cracked his knuckles, then made for the hall.

"Well, better get started. I get the feeling this is a rush job." Suddenly, Riku found that he had the power to control some part of his destiny. Now that he was out of the darkness, there was hope. And he'd be damned if he wasn't going to seize it and squeeze every last drop of potential out of it.

* * *

_To be continued! Yay, epic! 8D_


	7. Chapter 7

**_Psycho Director: _Hello! This comment may or may not contain letters, a brief note/introduction, and the Taco Bell dog. Okay? Okay.**

_Dear Xed14thKey (I'm still confused... I think ol' Xeddy needs to work on his counting sommat. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Ven, Aqua, Terra, and Roxas--I guess. That's 8. Not 13, you silly goose. Unless you're counting your housekey, which you probably are, you... county-person),_

_:o O rly? What'll happen? Life will move on? The stock market will crash? Zombies will steal my Chunky Puffs for a sacrifice to the cameo gods? SuperDeadlyBloodySharpSpikeBall will finally become a sport? I'm hoping for the last one. I'm still waiting for the patent I put on it to pend through._

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

**_Dear Sahxyel (as prophesized by a great ancient medium, 'a homie of my homies is a homie of mine'. No, I'm not trying to fill up space here! Don't be silly),_**

**_Oh, it's very important. You know about ol' Namine's powers, amirite? She draws memories to draw them out from the shadows of someone's heart, and... that's all the hints I'm givin'. The rest is simple math (but then again, I already know what happens, so I can't say for sure)._**

**_Bell?! -Looks around- I love bells! 8D They're shiny and jingly and... oh, fudge, it was just a metaphor. But still, yay for Axel and conveniant interrupting! No yaoi for you. Back, I say! Back! -Cracks whip threateningly- _**

**_Thankyewverymuch. I'm glad you think so... I don't know what IC stands for. :( The only thing I can think of is 'incest clones', which is why I normally don't think about stuff. :o I've seen that, too. Seriously, I've read fanfics where Larxene's in it, and through the WHOLE THING, nothing dies. Ever. I'm so sadly disappointed. I'm even putting an unhappy emote here, see:( OoC is only good for comedies, epiphanies, and characters no one cares about, anyway. Like the Disney characters (with the expections of Mickey, Jack, and some other dudes). Me no likey._**

**_I don't know, I lost count some time ago at 289,347,364, so I decided to lower it down a bit. And the worst part is, that wasn't even HIM. That was his dumb CLONE. And... pfft... Incest Clone... Wait, where was I? Oh, yeah._**

**_Yay! It's Mickey Mouse! -Starts singing the Mickey Mouse march- M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse! Mickey Mouse! And Riku, but he's not as important. In actually, though, no navigating will be done. That's boring, and no one likes a boring fanfic. So, the dramatic meeting shows up NAO! I mean, in this chapter._**

**_Which reminds me, SNAP!_** **_I've gotta' get to writing! Thanks for the comment, by the way! Keep it up plzplzplzkthnxbai!! 8D_**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

**

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**

**S**ora peeked around the corner, blue eyes wide. Someone was wandering around the building. This was strange. Normally no one came around here; they either stayed in the basement floors or around the lounge and dorms near the top. What could they want here?

With a small sigh, Sora turned to his duty. A small silver bowl full of scones sat disdainfully on the ground, the very sight of which sent Sora's stomach turning. In an act of rage over Sora's incorporation, Marluxia had ordered all food and sleep privileges cut off from the fourteen-year-old until he brought them the Keyblade. Sora had tried to steal food, sneak naps, even got down on his knees and _begged _at one point, but the ban still stood at three long days. To add salt to the wound, Larxene frequently ordered him out to bring her ironic items, like her lunch, extra blankets, or the scones he was toting around. If he so much as took a crumb, she sent thousands of volts into his body, clearly enjoying the ban much more than anyone else.

_It's not my fault_, Sora thought for the umpteenth time, lifting up and cradling the bowl. _I don't even know what a Keyblade is. How can I summon one? _It was true. Sora had no memories of his life before coming here. He couldn't even remember the point that he started to forget, though he was pretty sure it had something to do with a picture... He couldn't remember. Trying to just made it shirk away further in his mind. Yes, a picture was involved, but that was as far as his memories went before they betrayed him. That, and a single flashback that stood out for no discernable reason, but he had played it over far too many times to try again just then. Maybe later. Yes, later, he promised himself. He'd try to remember again later. Remember a gentle breeze carrying the sweet scent of blooming fruit-flowers, the gentle lull of the sea, remember a voice calling his name... Marluxia had been quick to sternly remind him that it was just a dream, all of it, but Sora secretly doubted it. It felt far too real.

Sora sank down, pressing his back against the wall and bringing the bowl down to rest on his lap. Larxene could wait. Sora was in one of his contemplative moods.

_Who was I before I came here? _He asked himself, in a drill that happened daily. _I can't have lived here all my life… could I? Why did I forget? _How_ did I forget? Did I get amnesia? Maybe Marluxia hit me on the head with something so hard I got a concussion… I wouldn't put that above him… _

Sora reached into his pocket, pulling out the only thing inside it. It was a tiny star made of white and pink shells, threaded together delicately with a fine yellow string in the center. A silly grin had been painted onto one of the five shells, giving it the appearance of a doll, almost. The shell charm also had a tiny metal crown glued into the middle, and a green braid with a clip threaded just above the face. It was the only thing left (besides the flashback) of what—so Sora thought—was his old life. He knew none of the Organization would have the patience to make something so strangely and painstakingly designed, let alone give it to him.

_Who left me this? And why? _The questions led him to nowhere, as they always did. This time, however, Sora didn't tuck the charm back into his pocket and continue on. He was sick of these questions. He was sick of being hungry. He was sick of the deep-rooted loathing at everyone he knew buried deep inside him.

The charm hung loosely from one hand, losing its sharp detail the more Sora gazed at it. It wasn't fair. He was never going back to wherever he had been. He wasn't going to find out who had given him the charm. He would never escape. Marluxia and Larxene and everyone else would just keep bullying him until he died, because that was just how the world was. No one was truly nice. He had never known a nice person, and never would. Curling up into a tiny ball, he wept bitterly, for all of the cruelty and evil still left in the world.

* * *

Riku had just bee-lined through the first floor, and was making his way to the second, when he heard a noise. Quietly, so much so that he almost missed it, someone sniffled. Riku was instantly on the alert, scanning around like a radar system to try and detect the source of the noise. Now that the sound of his own footsteps had stopped, he could make out the sound of someone crying. Heavy, hitched breathing… gasps and whimpers… and the occasional sniffle. It twanged at his heartstrings.

Deciding it wasn't coming from up the stairs, Riku determined the other person must still be on the first floor. That would make sense, as he had just barely skimmed over the area before moving on. It was a huge castle, after all, and he wanted to waste as minimal time as possible. But, if someone was there…

"Sora?" Riku called out. His voice echoed dismally off the pale white walls, coming back to him as if he were calling to himself. The person stopped crying abruptly, though Riku couldn't tell if it was a good or bad sign.

A shuffling noise followed shortly after the silence. Feet scuffed against the floor. A clang, then a warped noise. Something metal had fallen over, like a bowl, and was rattling back and forth upside-down. Riku took this as an opportunity to start running, having found where the sounds were coming from. After all, if whoever else was there was running away, he'd never make it unless he ran, too.

"_Wait_!" Riku tore across the hallway, chasing after the sound of another pair of running feet. Planting his hand against the wall, he whipped around a corner, allowing his momentum to propel him a few precious inches forward on its own.

_There_. The upturned heel, the red fabric jumpsuit, the billowy black and white jacket, and the great spiky plumes of brunet hair… all were unmistakable. His clothes were worn and slightly faded, but for the most part hadn't changed. But then, why was he running… from _him_? Why had _he _changed?

"Sora, it's me!" Riku cried, but it fell on deaf ears. He kept running, not even looking back, and Riku followed like a fish to a line. As he chased him, he had a brief moment to remember his recent fall to darkness, and his stomach fell somewhere inside him. Was… was Sora running because he was _afraid_ of him? No! He was different now! He had to make him see that, and stretched his arm forward.

Riku's fingers brushed lightly against black cloth, but couldn't get a firm hold. He leaned his body further forward, praying for that extra inch that would allow him to catch up. In a strange way, he was reminded of when Destiny Islands had been taken over by darkness. Sora had reached so hard for him then, as he only smiled bleakly and held out his hand. If he had just stretched out a bit further he could have easily reached him, but some dark part of him wanted to see him—and Kairi, and everyone else—be subjected to the same darkness that consumed the islands; cold, merciless darkness. He had been filled with a strange craving to watch his world suffer and die. He could have reached his hand out then, but the feeling kept him from actively _trying_. Now the roles were reversed.

Another metal clang reverberated in the air, and suddenly Riku was flying forward, arms no longer reaching for Sora but for anything that could stop his fall. Tiny, dry pastries flung themselves from the accursed metal bowl, shattering like glass against the marble floor. Their actions mimed his own on a much smaller scale, as the ground rushed up to him and sent pain running down his whole front body. The treats bounced up one when he fell, then lay still.

Riku tilted his head up weakly, still dizzy and disoriented by the fall. He reached out a hand, but to no avail. Sora disappeared around another corner, leaving him sprawled out against the floor and a multitude of crumbs. He no longer felt the urge to get up. What good would that do? Kairi had more than likely already been killed by Ansem—even if she hadn't, she was completely comatose, with virtually no hope of recovery. Ansem and Maleficent were still on the loose. And now Sora hated him. Still, lying there wouldn't solve anything, either.

With a groan, Riku finally fought his way to his feet, pressing his palm against the cool white walls for support. His foot, upon being shifted to support his weight, crushed one of the tiny treats beneath its heel. He turned down to look at the crumbles, confused.

"What's with the food?" Riku asked aloud, kicking one of the larger pieces and sending it scrambling into a corner. Of all of the things he expected to find in the castle, treats were pretty low on the list.

"Take them! They're not mine," Sora called out from just beyond Riku's sight. He jumped. He had thought Sora had left—who knew he was still in hearing range? And why was he acting so weird?

"I'd rather not. They're kind of broken." And it was true: the scones had shattered into bits just as they hit the floor. From just beyond the corner, Sora gasped loudly, suddenly. Riku pulled out Soul Eater at the sound, convinced that whatever had put Sora "in trouble" had come. However, instead of a powerful shadowy stranger rushing out for a climatic battle, Sora just slowly stepped out to face him.

His hands were gripped onto the corner of the wall, and his feet were spaced apart, ready to run at any moment. Dim blue eyes, balanced above twin dark bags and sunken into a pale and dusty face, scanned the room. Riku had to blink many times to remind himself that he wasn't seeing things. Sora looked like he hadn't seen almost all of his basic needs since Riku had left, and that scared him. No, terrified him.

"Really?" Sora asked quietly, almost as if the sound of his own voice scared him. Riku stared into his eyes, looking, _begging_, for some sort of recognition. Sora just looked right at him blankly, as if he were just a stranger.

"Y-yeah. But, Sora, who cares about that? We can go back home and eat something a lot better than just some dumb scones. Come on. You look hungry." Riku stepped forward, and Sora jumped back, his eyes wide. Riku froze in place at the reaction. Why did he look so afraid? Did he think he was still evil? That would make sense, actually.

Sora raised an eyebrow, slowly inching forward towards Riku, albeit hesitantly. In a way that made Riku want to both laugh and cry, he reminded him of a feral animal being offered a slab of meat. Riku opened his mouth to speak again, but Sora cut him off with something that made his words die before they escaped his throat.

"H-how did you know my name?" Riku felt an odd, numbing sensation gathering at his feet, working its way up his ankles.

"Sora, quit joking around. It's me, remember? We played on the islands together since we were born, with Kairi and everyone else." Sora stepped forward a little, blinking in a confused sort of way. The numb feeling slithered up Riku's legs with surprising speed.

"Sorry, you must be thinking of someone else. I… I've never been on an island." He walked to and past Riku, who seemed to be frozen in place. Without even a word, Sora bent down and picked up the bowl. Riku's head dipped down as he was doing so, and his next words were so quiet Sora almost missed them—but he didn't.

"How many other people do you who live here, look like you, and are named 'Sora'?" Sora stared at him long and hard, an angry pout on his face and his fists tightening around the curvy handles of the bowl. Why couldn't this guy just leave him alone?

"I said it was a mistake. Just a big… stupid… annoying mistake. Nobody cares about me, and nobody ever did! I'm lucky that I even have a place to _stay_! I'm never going to be able to leave, and anyone who says different is just a stupid liar." Riku turned to face him as he angrily began stomping away. His voice, despite his insides being torn apart and filled with sorrow, was calm.

"You're the liar. There's at least one person here who cares." A long silence followed this, during which Sora stopped walking, but didn't turn to face him. His next words were so quiet they were almost a whisper, or a prayer.

"Then why didn't you save me?"

* * *

"Oh, _Sora_…" a singsong voice called from nearby, cutting off his self-pity like a sharp knife through a chicken's waiting neck. Sora's face paled further, and thin line of sweat dappled his forehead. Damn. He had spent too long talking to the strange new person, that he hadn't delivered the scones… Oh, no! Where were the scones!?

Sora's eyes darted over to the floor, and he gasped again. The scones were just crumbles on the floor, like the person had said. The bowl he held was empty; not a single treat had survived the silver-haired teen's fall. Oh, Larxene was going to be so angry… There was only one way out of this.

"Who's that?" the other teen asked, glancing around at the voice's call. Sora looked around, too, but it was for a much different reason. His eyes strayed upwards and, like a beacon of hope, he saw what he was looking for. His face split into a rare grin, and he grabbed the stranger's arm.

"Come on! Hurry!" he pulled him over to the wall, then looked up in triumph. The other person, however, wasn't so enthused.

"An air-vent? Why are we going in there?" Sora ignored his question, instead going about happily unscrewing the screws with his fingernails. After only about two minutes of nervous creaking and looking around, the entire front grille of the vent came off in Sora's hands. He giggled, temporarily unstable with his relief.

Shortly beyond the two boys, an angry yell tore at the air. Both winced, and Sora sped up his operations. Undoubtedly, Larxene had found the remains of the scones. Sora leaned back down from off of his toes (which he had to stand on to reach the vent), then held out his hand to the other boy.

"Get in there!" he yelled in a demanding voice, but the small smile grafted onto his face removed all sternness in the command. The stranger was hesitant.

"But what about you?" Sora shook his head. By the time the words were out of his mouth, he was already leading him to the hole in the wall.

"I'll be fine. I'm coming right after you, trust me." The stranger stopped, to Sora's strong annoyance, and turned to face him with a stubborn glint in his eye.

"No. You go first. I can handle her." Sora's smile dripped away, to be replaced by an angry frown.

"_No_. She's used to me being around and not listening to orders and stuff. But if she sees you—'cause she's never met you before—wandering around the castle, she'll kill you dead, on site. Now go ahead before we both get caught!"

"Sora—" But Sora had already shoved him in the hole, and he obediently shut up and started crawling along. Sora watched the backs of his feet disappear into the darkness, content that he had done something amazingly _right_. He had no clue why he was helping this guy. Maybe he didn't want him to suffer. Maybe he was just nice. Or maybe he had felt something important when they first met. Maybe… but he didn't know for sure.

He was so consumed with thinking this over that he didn't hear the angry footsteps coming steadily closer and closer. By the time he was aware of them, they were less than a foot away. By the time he turned around, icy fingers stretched taunt with anger were already wrapped around his neck.

* * *

_To be continued! Yay! 8D_


	8. Chapter 8

**_ Chillin' _**

**That's what I'm doing right now. Yeah, that's right, Mr. Geometry teacher. You don't _own _homeroom, just because it takes place in your classroom. I chill when I want to chill... in homeroom. Yes.**

**But, since no one knows what I'm talking about right now, I guess I'll just skip to that... letter-thingy... here now.**

**This being rule-explaining-less now makes it a 1 in 3 chance that I will actually post the rules behind my mad letter-answering skills here. **

**By the way, does anyone know the name of that song that has the lyrics "she's got a body like an hourglass and it's ticking like a clock" and a hell of a lot of "woooooaaaah"s in the chorus? It sounds like it's sung by Avril Lavenge (sp?). I heard it on the radio today, and I've been trying to get the title ever since so I can YouTube it. Unfortunately, the lyrics go way too fats for me to post anymore lines here... _cuz I don't know 'em. _What? Letters? Oh yeah.**

**_Dear Xed14thKey (I've punned this name twice now. Leave me alone),_**

**_Why thank you! I like it, too. Though I like this chapter better, personally. It's got BROTHERLY LOVE between Sora and Riku in it. That's the key word, there. BROTHERLY. Like Philidelphia, only with less presidents. I'm not much of a SoRiku yaoi fan. But that is neither here nor there._**

**_SELF-REGENERATING!? Like... _homonculi_?! Have mercy! I haven't seen Nova Scotia yet! I never went to Kansas! And... actually, I wouldn't know. Way to make fun of my baldness, jerk. 8( W-wait a second... I'm not bald... GAH! -Runs from the Moogles-_**

**_-Catches the toilet with one hand because I'm awesome- Oh, so it's a Bathroom Battle you want, aye? Well, then... -Picks up a tampon gun (c)- Prepare to SUFFER LARGE._**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

_Dear Phoenix80hp (The HP stands for 'hidden pants'),_

_Wow... not one, but TWO "poor"s... That can't be good. Oh, well. He'll get over it... OR DIE TRYING. Then he will go home... OR DIE TRYING. Then he'll have a slice of cake... OR DIE TRYING. Then he will die... OR DIE TRYING._

_Thanks! But you're wrong. I will never update. Never. So you can... oh, darn._

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

**_Dear Sahxyel (I promised myself I'd move to Egypt only after I learned to pronounce your name. DON'T YOU WANT ME TO GO TO EGYPT???),_**

**_Oh, details, details. Sometimes incest clones are very in-character. Like... uh... in... _House of the Scorpion_. I'm sure there was at least one case in there. -Sigh- That's my favorite movie..._**

**_I prefer to look at things from an optomistic point of view. Just replace the adjective (noun?) 'sad' in your sentence 'So abused to the point it's sad'. So abused to the point it's funny... So abused to the point it's spicy... So abused to the point it's reasonably cheesy with a hint of lettuce and tomato... So abused to the point it's no I am not reading off adjectives on a Taco Bell menu just for cheap laughs, what are you smoking..._**

**_Marly's a jerk. 8( I ought to give him a concussion... with my sledgehammer... then set him on fire... then set loose vampire babies to devour his flesh... then kick him off the edge of the Pit of Death... and make him land on a pack of starved, rabid weasels with sixty-seven inch claws and teeth and spikes on their backs and an unnatural hunger for guys with pink hair. And I concur. Sora needs a hug like Axel needed... burnable stuff._**

**_Oh noes! And it gets worse. 8D DUN DUN DUUUUN. Hopefully, but first... stuff needs to happen. It's like this:_**

**_Riku's To Do List_**

**_ Save Sora_ **

**_ Make him remember stuff_**

**_ Save Sora again (dammit)_**

**_ Find Mickey_**

**_ KILL STUFF_**

**_So you see._**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

_Dear Tori the... something or other... Tori The Commenting Monkey-Drone,_

_Thanks, and yes. I will of being updating many time soon yes._

_Sincerely,_

_Psycho_

**_We now bring you your current presentation. Please turn off all cell phones and electronic devices when entering the theatre... NO NO YOU CAN KEEP YOUR COMPUTER ON! _**

**

* * *

**

**S**ora instinctively opened his mouth to scream when he first saw _her_ standing there, only to find tight hands wrapped firmly around his windpipe. Her blonde hair was flung over to one shoulder, her cloak was still waving in the slight breeze left over from her jogging there, and her icy blue eyes were dappled with a dark gleam. Larxene.

Gasping and coughing, Sora dug his fingers between her hands and his neck, struggling to breathe. Tiny pinpricks of light popped into and out of existence before his eyes. His feet swung back and forth, but not enough to strike his tormenter.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Larxene growled at him. "You're always late, you broke exactly what I asked you to bring me, and when I find you, you're trying to creep through the air-vents like some sort of stupid _animal_. Don't you understand? You're _nothing_. You don't deserve to live, to breathe our air. You just wander around, sucking up our charity, then refuse us the _moment_ we ask for something in return. You're not even worth the grime on the bottom of my shoe, understand me?" Sora squeezed one eye shut, clenching his teeth together and tightening his grip on her hands.

"T-that's not… true…" he choked, his face paling. Larxene's grip constricted, the veins in her arms poking out.

"Oh? Are you calling me a liar? You don't have anything, _boy_. You have no family, friends, home… no one would miss you if I killed you right now." Sora drew up what little remained of his breath.

"No… what about… the Keyblade?" Larxene smirked.

"We'll find another way. It can die with you." Sora closed both eyes, his vision clouding over with a fierce red, like the after burn from staring at the sun too long. Black already clouded at the edges, a welcoming black of death… Would that be so bad? It sounded nice, actually. No more hunger or thirst or pain or confusion… everything would just stop. He let his body relax, his coughing slow, embracing the blackness with open arms.

Suddenly it was over, and Larxene was reeling back as though burned, and there was a wing (_a wing_?) waving past, and he was gasping in air, beautiful, precious _air_. How could he have not wanted that? It chased away the suddenly terrifying black, and tasted like chocolate-filled biscuits and cherries and everything wonderful he had ever eaten in his entire life, as far as he could remember (which was only one meal, he realized with surprise). The wing was not a wing but a sword, and holding that sword was a gloved hand, and that hand belonged to—oh, _God_—the stranger he had met earlier.

Sora sat with numb shock where he had fallen, his eyes closed (but forced open to stare at every possible moment) and lower face buried in the crook of his arm to cough violently. His entire body trembled, having been pulled back from the brink of death.

He blinked. Had he really been that close? Had he really been just about to sit back and _let _himself die? Was that what he'd come to? He slowly stopped coughing, turning his head to face the event in front of him and gasping for air loudly.

The silver-haired teen stood in front of him, he saw with surprise, his arms outstretched to either side protectively. In one hand was a deadly looking blade; purple and blue, shaped strongly like a curved bat wing. In front of him, Larxene rubbed the back of her hand, which sported a wicked greenish-yellow bruise.

"Stay away from him, bitch," he growled. Sora winced at the menace in his tone, but Larxene only smirked.

"Well, well. Look who decided to crawl out of his pitiful dark cesspool. What's the matter, little boy? Was the mean ol' darkness too strong for you? Or did you just grow _bored_ of destroying everything you cared about?" The stranger growled under his breath, his fist tightening.

"Shut up! I made a mistake, but that's not your problem!" Sora cocked his head to one side.

"Hey, what are you…?"

"_Nothing_. It's nothing." Sora jumped a little at the other boy's harsh tone, but otherwise kept quiet. Larxene, however, burst into laughter at this.

"Oh, I'll say it was nothing! Sora, you really don't remember what happened, do you?" Sora cast his eyes to the ground, then slowly shook his head. He couldn't remember anything. Larxene laughed harder, and the silver-haired teen grew angrier.

"Don't tell him!" he yelled, his tone mostly angry, but hinting at… fear? Larxene's laughter died off, but she looked at him with a dark smirk.

"But he deserves to know, don't you think, Riku? After all, the poor baby's lost everything. Friends, family, home, life. He needs to know who caused it." Larxene giggled. "You're going around waving that sword like you're some sort of hero, but we know better, don't we? We know why Sora can't remember anything, and why that Princess is still a lifeless toy, and why you're here now. And it's all… your… fault." Riku ground his teeth together and muttered his answer.

"I made a mistake…" he grumbled. Larxene made a "humph" noise at this, tossing her blonde hair over one shoulder.

"That's one hell of a mistake, Riku. You wanted to leave your tiny little island so badly. So badly that you started to make a raft, and your friends, like loyal mutts, helped you. You wanted to leave so badly you cast aside all thoughts of everything else, and when the opportunity came, you took it, uncaring of what would happen to anyone else because of it. You didn't care that Kairi would lose her heart, quite possibly forever. You didn't care when the darkness grew hungry after you set it loose, and devoured your entire home, family, friends.

"Sora, do you remember that part? You almost made it to him before the darkness got to you, too. It nearly killed you, eating you alive then going after everyone else. And remember, Sora? When it wrapped around you, all icy and cold? Who was it that you were reaching for, who just stood there while you were getting pulled in, who—correct me if I'm wrong—_was happy_ as it nearly took your life? Who held out his hand so close to himself, not to try to help you, but just to give you the irony of being so damn close? Who?"

Sora pressed his hands to his head, eyes forced shut and mouth drawn in a tight grimace, as flashes appeared, over and over, faster and faster… The smell of flowering fruits on the breeze… the gentle blow of the ocean… people laughing… A bitter, sudden wind… a dark portal in the night sky… large ant-like creatures grabbing at him, tearing the skin around his ankles with their sharp claws, amber eyes dancing in the dark… A single gloved hand held out to him, too far away… bitter, miserable cold… so cold… He was dying, he couldn't breathe… he couldn't see… it was too dark… he was falling… then… nothing. His memories went no further. They just stopped, to his frustration.

"No," he stated blankly. "I can't remember anything." He wasn't sure why he lied. He just knew, somehow, that it was the best thing to do at the time. Larxene scoffed at this, her confident smile vanishing.

"Useless idiot. But fine, be that way. Go play with your little friend from the dark. I still expect your chores to be done by dinner. Be good and I might let you lick the plates when we're done." With that, she teleported out. In a rush, Riku ran up to where she had been, swinging his sword and scattering the remains of the corridor.

"Hey, we're not through, here! How do you know all this? What did you do to Sora? _Answer me_!" He slashed at empty air a bit more, before finally realizing she wasn't coming back. He just stared at the wall, seething angrily.

With a tired sigh, Sora worked his way to his feet. He had to plant his hand against the wall for support, as his head was still spinning from the flashbacks (and low blood sugar). Now, however, he faced a problem. In order to go up the stairs, he'd have to pass Riku. And he wasn't sure if he could do that; with all that Larxene had revealed, Riku was starting to seem less and less trustable.

Riku turned to face him, then, and Sora instinctively backed up a step, mind whirring. Well, he could always head into the basements, but then he risked facing the wrath of the Underground members, who hated to be disturbed during the day. Plus, while they weren't as mean as Larxene or as scary as Marluxia, they seemed to all have a strong, unexplainable disliking of him, be it day or night. He didn't know why, but he heard one of them—Zexion—mutter something about 'power to the Aboveground members'. Not that it made any difference—Sora didn't have any power, besides maybe the Keyblade, whatever that was.

"Sora, are you alright?" Riku stepped forward another step, and Sora back, like some sort of dance. They kept around the same distance apart, minus a few inches, as Sora couldn't step back as far as Riku could. Forward, back. Forward, back. Sora couldn't keep this up forever. He'd hit a wall or something.

"Stay away from me!" he yelled loudly, balling his hands into fists. Now Riku backed up a step, disrupting the pattern. "I don't trust you! If what Larxene said was true, then… then maybe I'm better off staying here!" Riku stumbled back a little more at this, eyes wide.

"You… you'd really…? But, but they're _killing_ you! You look like you haven't eaten or slept in days!" Sora stared down at the ground, his sudden anger vanishing in an instant. RIku had hit him right where it hurt, knocking the figurative wind out of him, his anger with it.

"…They don't want me to…" Riku's eyes widened even further at this, if it was possible, and he rapidly stepped closer. This time, Sora didn't back away.

"I was using an analogy. I saw you carrying some junk food earlier! They made you carry food around, but not eat it? Sora, that's mental _torture_!" Sora's shoulders began to shake a little, and he struggled to mask it.

"They don't _want_ me to," he repeated. Riku's eyes darted around a little.

"What about sleep? _Please_ tell me they at least let you sleep! God, I've been gone four days!" Sora wrapped his arms around himself in a vain attempt to stop himself from crying.

"I'm sorry…"

"_Don't be_! Oh, God, what else! What else happened? Did they… beat you?" Sora consulted his memories and shivered.

"J-just a little bit, but… they said I deserved it. Like when I told Naminé that I kept remembering really weird things, then she told Marluxia, and… I still do remember them, but I don't want him to know. Please don't tell him; he's scary when he gets mad." Riku looked like he might faint, but dared to ask his final question.

"…What about rape?" he asked in a quiet voice. Sora's head darted up in surprise, eyes blinking rapidly.

"N-no! They wouldn't… well… Marluxia tried once, a few days back, but… Axel stopped him. He helped me." Riku gagged a little from somewhere inside his throat.

"'_Him_'?" he spluttered, secretly expecting Larxene or this mysterious Naminé to be the culprits. Someone of the _opposite_ gender. Sora just nodded, looking down at the ground again and having his arms resume their position wrapped around himself. When he looked up again, his eyes were sparkling with tears.

"Riku… I'm scared. I don't want to be here." Riku stepped closer, unmet by opposition on Sora's part. Sora just stood there, looking up at him through his bangs.

"Then don't be." Sora whispered his next words.

"But… I don't have any place else to go." He let out a noise, like a cross between a yelp and a squeak, when he felt arms wrap tightly around his abdomen. His feet lifted an inch or two off the ground with this, to bring him face to face with Riku. The latter's face, when had been bent with anger for almost all of the short time Sora had known him, was worn with sadness. True sadness, too; not the fake pity the others kept giving him whenever he whined. He only caught the expression for a split-second, though, as it passed by him and he felt a hard, shaky shoulder press against his chin.

"Then let me give you one." A week ago—though he didn't know it—Sora would have laughed at the cheesiness of those words. Now, however, he just wrapped his arms around Riku's neck, leaning his head to the side so his cheek rested against his arm. The movement was so foreign to him that, for a moment, he couldn't remember what it was, but just continued from instinct. Then the name came to him, a simple, tiny word, and he blinked in surprise, then sank into it like a warm bath.

Care. Not just somewhere or somehow, but here and now, somebody cared deeply for him. No, _loved_ him. Not like lust, that disturbing feeling Marluxia had for him that he had previously confused it with, but… like a brother. And for that moment, that was good enough. The world he knew, more and more like an imprisoning wall every second, crumbled to dust around him, and he, Riku, and everyone else from the memories he couldn't fully recall were holding the hammers in triumph.

* * *

_Cute, eh? I think so. Keep in mind, I'm not about to make those two gay. You know, desperate situations call for desperate measures... and it's not like anyone else there would administer a hug. So, yeah. I'm just going to say, again, it's "like a brother". More caring than just best friends, but neither of them are after some ass in this fic. Sorry to disappoint you! 8D I mean, honestly. If YOU saw that your best friend in the history of ever was the unfortunate result of a case of child abuse that even Dave Peltzer can't touch... wouldn't YOU hug them? Would you? Huh?_

_...You're mean and I don't like you. 8(_

_But review anyway! Please! You want to get a letter, don't you? DON'T YOU?_


	9. Chapter 9

**Psycho Director: Hello. 8)**

**_Dear Xed14thKey (This name rings a distant bell in the far-off lands of my memories...),_**

**_Finally, someone agrees with me! Random and unexplained violence and child abuse CAN be cute! I KNEW it! And friendship is POWER. More powerful even than the Keyblade... so I'll just take that off their hands. -La steal-_**

**_Hm... let's assess the situation, shall we? You just ran into a lamppost and got knocked out from running around like you is crazy-go-nuts. Meanwhile, I JUST NICKED AN EFFING KEYBLADE. Now, why don't you just back away slowly? I have a lot of cars to jack, homes to rob, and public bathroom stalls to get into, and not a lot of time._**

**_...-Steals your wallet and RUNS- Lololololol--hits a sign that reads 'DANGER: sign' and is dazed- Fudge._**

_**Sincerly,**_

**_Psycho_**

_Dear Mooncry (you can't order the moon around like that. It's not your little brother),_

_Yes. Yes it is. Like the time my pet hamster ran away and Mum and Dad said he went to summer camp... BUT NEVER RETURNED. I miss you, Doctor Loboto..._

_Sincerly (and in rememberence),_

_Psycho_

_**Dear Phoenix80hp (It's not hidden pants!? Um... okay... how about... **I **h**ave a copy of **P**sychonauts which is a very fun game_

_**You know, I do too! Yeah, it's strange... either that, or Riku disappears early on by some form of **deux ex machina **so Sora and... someone... can have a 'special moment'. And by 'special moment' I mean 'romantic moment'. And by 'romantic moment' I mean 'rape'. And by 'rape' I mean WHERE THE FUDGE IS RIKU IN ALL THIS!? Oh, I'm EVER SO excited (for Forsaken, I mean). 8D**_

**_I kind of like yaoi, but only with certain people. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness... Sephiroth (LOLWHUT?)... Axel... Sora... Roxas (?)... The Burger King... I mix an' match. 8D -Crazy grin- Anyway, thanks for the comment!_**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

_Dear Yenattirb (I'm not even going to TRY to pronounce that... I'll just say 'that one person', m'kay? And... HOLY CRAP IT'S BACKWARDS!? Woah),_

_Why thank you. So am I! 8D We should exchange Pokemon Friend numbers! (Pokemon Diamond and Pearl reference... I don't blame you if you don't get it) For the record, Kairi's at Hollow Bastion. Probably dreaming about Psychonauts... It's what I do. _

_I'll bet a zombie wouldn't. Or a Heartless. Or... a HEARTLESS ZOMBIE. 8D I have to get out my sketchbook like NAO! The idea juices are flowing, like blood through a giant brian with the power to crush entire cities with one blow but no arms or legs to do so with. And I seriously would hug him. I'm a huggy-person, oddly._

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

**Now, back to whatever it was I was doing!**

* * *

**R**iku wasn't sure how long he held Sora during that long moment. His entire mind seemed numbed over, even though he knew he should have been incredibly sad or furious. However, it felt like he had been shot full of Novocaine, and he could barely bring himself to move his arms or talk.

He both needed to and hated this close contact. It wasn't because of fear for his sexuality that he hated it (he was pretty straight, but there were more important things to worry about). No, it was because just touching Sora was a painful description of what had happened to his young, innocent friend. The traces of baby fat that adamantly refused to leave his face, despite his being naturally skinny, were gone, to be replaced by shadows and sunken skin. His heavily bruised arms pressed too hard against Riku's neck, without a healthy layer of substance between his bones and skin. The light in his eyes was sickly dim, and his movements were off and jerky. Plus, he had gotten even lighter, so that Riku saw with surprise that he had been holding him a few inches in the air… _and hadn't even noticed._

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…" Riku mumbled over and over again, but whether it was to himself or to Sora, he didn't know. He rocked gently back and forth on his heels like a lunatic, still repeating himself. Sora didn't say anything about this—or anything at all—but just stayed there. His loud and fast breathing slowed down more and more, and he stopped trembling after the first minute, so Riku had an impression that he had fallen fast asleep.

With a tired groan that made him sound well beyond his years, Riku stood up straighter, just noticing that he had crouched down a little during the time. Sure enough, Sora remained silent, so Riku realized he must have been asleep. And how tired he must have been, too, to have nodded off while nearly standing. Riku carefully pulled his legs up to the side, holding one hand against the hollow of his kneecaps and the opposite arm wrapped around his shoulder blades. Sora's arms were still wrung around his neck like a huge necklace, though they were loosely so, and his breathing was slow and steady.

"…Lazy bum." Riku smiled to himself, but it was incredibly strained and more disturbing than reassuring. With Sora nestled securely and, most of all, _safely_ in his arms, Riku made for the exit, off-handedly surprised that no one else had shown up to stop him… yet.

"Riku!" If Riku had never been able to jump high enough to reach the ceiling before, he certainly was at that moment. He could easily recognize the high-pitched and squeaky voice as the one that had spoken to him in the dark—Mickey—but that was an oddity in itself. He would have realized if the voice had sounded so ridiculous back then. It had been, in the dark, more like the words just sort of… came to him, but he could still somehow tell that the speaker of the words then and now were the same. Mickey.

With a curious expression, Riku turned around to face the source of the voice, then blinked. It was… a mouse. About three feet tall, he was far too tall for the average mouse, but too short for a person. An anthropomorph. His ears were almost as big as his head and perfectly round, and his big eyes were framed in a face that most would have considered incredibly cute. Also, to top it off, he was wearing clothes. Odd ones, too. Riku realized he must have come from the same world as Donald and Goofy.

As soon as Mickey got a good look at the two boys, his expression changed from mildly blank to absolutely crestfallen. He clasped his white gloved hands over his mouth, his eyebrows (if you could call them that) twisting upwards. He blinked rapidly, stepping back once and sliding his foot back behind him.

"Oh, no… We were too late… I'm sorry, I was hoping they wouldn't… Not so soon… I tried to get you here as soon as possible, and… You must be feeling awful! I-I'm sorry… I couldn't help you…" His ears drooped forward a little, and he shook his head. "Oh, you must hate me!" Riku stepped forward at this, instantly reassuring.

"Hey, hey! No, I don't! You helped me a ton! Sora's not _dead_, all right? He's just sleeping. He had a… a rough day." Mickey brightened considerably at this. He looked back up, eyes wide with hope.

"Really? He's OK?" Riku nodded, grinning with relief. Mickey grinned back, sighing. They spent about two or three seconds basking in this, then Riku turned serious, and Mickey copied him.

"Alright, I need some answers. How do you know about all of this? And how were you able to get me out of the realm of darkness?" Mickey gave an off-handed answer.

"We can have all the time you want to talk about that later. Right now, I think we need to get out of here. Larxene's not just picking flowers where she's at, you know. If we don't get a move on, we'll have the entire Organization after us." Riku narrowed his eyes, which were burning with quiet fury.

"So what? Bring them on. I'll kill each and every one of them for what they did." Mickey sighed, but this time, it wasn't out of relief.

"Whelp, that's great, but you're missing one thing. You don't think they brought Sora here with just a strip of bacon on a long string, do ya'? They're immensely powerful, and you can't beat them all on your own." Riku scowled, knowing Mickey had a point.

"So what do you want me to do?" Mickey glanced over to the stairs, which continued up as far as he could see. Meanwhile, Riku ran his hand along Sora's hair repetitively, in an obsessive-compulsive habit he hadn't realized he had. After what seemed like forever, Mickey gave his answer.

"There's someone here I should show you. He'll be able to help." Riku nodded, then noticed that Mickey wasn't looking at him.

"Alright. Where is he?" he asked.

"Follow me. I'll take you to him."

"That won't be necessary, Your Majesty," a third voice, deep, low, and calm, interrupted. Riku jerked up, instantly on the alert. He sounded like Ansem!

Whipping around, Riku tore out Soul Eater, determined to carve a bloody swathe in Ansem's flesh, to make him pay for what he did… He stopped in mid-swing. The person in front of him was wearing s mask of red bandages, but he could tell. He wasn't Ansem. Pausing, Riku stared at the odd new person. He was wearing a long red cape, an odd black outfit laced with pouches and belts, and a black scarf. Strange, but harmless. Grudgingly, Riku stowed his weapon.e waH

"Who are you?" The new person looked at him, in a way that made him look very smug and certain.

"You can call me DiZ." Riku pulled Sora a bit closer to him. He didn't like the way this guy spoke towards him—like he was just some stupid kid. However, DiZ was spared facing his insulted wrath by spotting Sora. He looked over him with a critical eye, and Riku had a sudden impression of a sophisticate catching sight of a dead animal.

"Ah. This must be the boy you informed me about earlier," he spoke, glancing over at Mickey.

"His _name_ is Sora," Riku told him curtly. DiZ chose to ignore him, to his annoyance.

"He's been far from well, I can see. Has anyone divulged to you what's been happening here?" Riku realized, with a start, that DiZ was staring at him, intently. He returned the old man's look of superiority with an angry glare.

"Yeah. Sora told me, so I'm rescuing him. Is that a _problem_?" DiZ chuckled at this, as if Riku had cracked a joke. All of a sudden, he burst into laughter, causing Riku and Mickey to jump back and Sora to mumble something incoherent in his sleep.

"I can't decide if you're being incredibly heroic or incredibly foolish! You would risk death, torture, enslavement, or whatever the imagination can become, because of a few words from an emotionally traumatized child?" Riku ground his teeth together, tightening his grip on Sora and feeling an incredible anger build up inside him. He yelled his answer.

"_Yes_! You don't know it, old timer, but Sora and I have been best friends for as far back as I can remember. Then I find out he might _die_, so _of course_ I'm going to save him! What was I supposed to do, sit back and watch? You can call me a fool or whatever the hell else you want for it, but that doesn't change my mind!" Was it just his imagination, or was DiZ's 'holier than thou' look a little less… 'holier than thou'? It seemed to have just a little hint of, well, _respect_ at the center of it… Then he blinked, and it was gone, to be replaced by contempt.

"I see. But you cannot tell me that it hasn't occurred to you, even once, that your friend could quite possibly be… untrustable?"

"Are you calling Sora a _liar_?"

"Of course not. What I mean is that that child—Sora, was it?—has gone through many grueling instances during his stay here. His respect for others may well have been stretched far beyond its limit, to be replaced by a terrible hatred or fear of anyone besides himself. He could very well be far more concerned with the instinctive urge to survive than for the safety of someone who, in his eyes, left him there to suffer for four long days." DiZ began to pace back and forth across the hallway in front of the three.

"Now, let's say—hypothetically, of course—that the Organization, in their attempts to rid themselves of you, offered him something. A bargain, maybe, or a threat. And all he would have to do is to get you to follow him. Young man…

"…How do we know he's not leading us straight into a trap?" Riku and Mickey stared at DiZ wordlessly, their faces pantomimes of shock. Finally, at the same time, they yelled back.

"_Sora's not like that_!" Both of their faces radiated anger towards DiZ's assumption. Even Mickey's had its fair share of anger, despite the fact that he and DiZ had been comrades at some point in times, and he was normally a pacifist. This accusation against Sora's incredible naïveté and innocence was so unlikely, that it was as if DiZ had asked them if he was human.

However, their loud voices finally proved too much for Sora to sleep through. With a tired, annoyed groan, he shifted around awkwardly in order to look around, his eyes still bleary and half-shut. First he stared straight at DiZ, then over at Mickey, then up to Riku, then back to DiZ. As his eyes traveled, they quickly became less tired and more alert and surprised.

"What's going on?" he asked, eyes wide and arms still clamped around Riku's throat, but not showing much else fear-wise. DiZ stepped forward.

"You've been through very much, Sora. I'm here to help you escape and find your way back home, back to your friends and family. You can trust me." DiZ looked to Riku. "I'm going to have to take him with me. He needs medical attention, and I need to destroy the Organization. He can give me vital information I may need."

"Wh—" Sora began, but Riku cut him off.

"Hell no! Sora's staying with us!" DiZ scowled at him.

"It looks like you're a fool after all. You played your grandiose role, but now it's over. Do not endanger yourself further by associating yourself with this incident. You're no longer needed." DiZ took another step forward, but Riku held his ground. He glared at DiZ with utmost loathing.

"I'm not afraid of you. You may act tough, but you're just an old man with a superiority complex. And I'm not about to suddenly surrender to you, not yet. If it were someone else that was in danger, someone I didn't know about, then I might give them to you. I'm no hero that way.

"But I made a promise to myself before I got here, when I was trapped in the realm of darkness. Even though Sora had done so much on his own, in the end, I still had to help him just close the door. And Kairi, through it all, spent so much time helpless and unconscious. Though I had flung them out of our homeworld and into a terrifying new reality, they were still the same kids I knew back home.

"I promised myself that, if I were to ever make it out of there, I'd protect them. I wouldn't let _anyone_ hurt them like I did. I'd keep them safe, even if it cost me my own life.

"So I think you'd better get your priorities straight, DiZ. After all, I'm not the one who's no longer needed. _You_ are." And with that, he turned and left, leaving Mickey and DiZ in his wake.

* * *

_To be continued!!_


End file.
